29. Always Running Late

Q.

I’m always running late for work, I’m always late for everything. Any advice?

A.

Hey, thanks for the question and I think I have a fairly straight forward answer for you – or at least this is the advice that helped me in this regard. You see, much like yourself, a few years back I was also somebody who was late for everything. Honestly, I just didn’t give a shit and wasn’t all that fussed. I even think part of this was because I had a really good excuse, as in my disability meant that I always had to rely on other people (to get organised) and this was often on their time.

But funnily enough, I’m almost never late now. So, what changed?

Well, yeah maybe I’m a bit more organised, I probably even have more focus and clearer direction. But I don’t think this was it. What made the difference was that somebody told me that “when you’re late, you’re basically telling somebody that your time is more important than theirs.” This take on lateness blew my mind.

Like disability or not, I’ve always wanted to be seen as and feel like an equal human being. I still feel like this, or to put it another way, “everybody is special and nobody is special.” And moreover, this is why I try to give each of these questions the same amount of attention.

Still, to combine this equality viewpoint with the lateness thing, I believe it just comes back to being considerate toward others. Hence, this is about moving from selfishness and making everything about yourself to think more about others and their journeys. Be kind and considerate where you can. And sure, stuff happens and some lateness may be unavoidable, yet if you’re doing your best and trying I’d hope that others will understand.

The world is a collaboration (within communities), and time is definitive – like we all only have twenty four hours in a day. And we all want to make the most of it.

Stay cool for now.