Making A Difference: The Fine Art of "Being Bothered!"

There are many ways to make a difference in the world.

Most of these are quite small, and a lot of people look at them, roll their eyes and decide that they just can't be bothered.

I often find myself wondering about this attitude, and about how those people might feel when they're on the receiving end of somebody else "not being bothered" with them. Do they pitch a fit and demand to "talk to the manager?"

Of course, the possibility exists that this is a less common issue in this day and age, where it feels like more and more people live by a "trust no one; you can only depend on yourself" paradigm. It saddens me how many don't care whether or not someone went the extra mile, and "bothered" to do the right thing.

From where I'm sitting, if that is truly the case, it seems to me that being bothered is more important than it has ever been before! Not just because most people actually appreciate it, but because if nobody else is bothered, the fact that you can be bothered really stands out from the crowd, and is likely to earn you more appreciation!

Of course, let's remember that the whole business of being bothered is best engaged in simply because it's right action, and not to gain accolades.

Yes, I CAN Be Bothered...

I find myself thinking about these little things from a place of knowing that I have no great brilliance, I have no exceptional talents, I have no particularly outstanding learned skills, but one of the things I do have is the ability to be extremely perseverant, and to be bothered with things other people just can't trouble themselves to care about.

Whether this is a good, bad or indifferent thing, that remains to be established. I've had one person - who was a well-qualified psychologist - tell me that my childhood and upbringing led me to focus on picking up other people's abandoned leftovers, rather than creating anything for myself, from the ground up, and that would generally be considered a negative thing.

I'm willing to admit that maybe they were on to something. After all, there was a time in my life where I thought I might make some extra pocket money by extracting gold dust from certain beach sands, rather than actually investing in a gold mine where there was the potential for real gold.

And I have a long history of choosing jobs — and getting into self-employed occupations — that most people abandon because you can't make "a real living" doing them. But I use my particular obsession with being bothered and perseverant to get the most I can from them.

I tried to unpack this particular tendency with a therapist many years ago, and we eventually ended up at the reality that I largely abhor competition and having to "fight" for resources. Going after the things that are barely worthwhile allows me to operate in an arena that is virtually competition free, which means I can be by my own without having to compete against others... because those others can't be bothered!

Of course — as I wrote yesterday — choices do tend to have consequences. If you only see yourself competing for a top-10 spot, don't get all butthurt because you do not get the winner's prize!

The point is, though, that "being bothered" does make a difference in the world... even if many think it stupid.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great remainder of your week!

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!

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Created at 2024-03-14 01:40 PDT
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