Being present and being in the present are both very important. However, there are times when you are better off being absent or in other words, you will create more harm by being present. I will give you a few scenarios and you can add your own to the list:
There are cases when someone really wants to be alone and spend time with himself or herself.
2. When someone wants to be with their family:
Unfortunately, family is an institution under constant threat because we are “always connected.” When someone wants to finally break away and get to spend some quality time with their family, it is better that you are absent physically and through the internet.
3. When someone wants to get an objective feedback about you:
If you are present, it no longer will be objective (most of the time) as people want to be “nice” to you. Sometimes you’d rather want people to be honest and not nice. By you being not there, people who want to get critical feedback about you can get their job done more easily.
4. When you are “truly” not invited:
Sounds too obvious but that does not negate the validity of the scenario.
5. When you want sometime to be alone:
Sometimes it may be that you want to be alone to recharge your batteries or reflect on something. So please be alone and be absent from other places. That way you won’t annoy other people.
Of course, I am sure you will have your own scenarios to add to this list.
Good luck and have a great weekend.
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Note 1: Here is a Squidoo lens that links to most of the previous articles in this series:
Squidoo: Distinguish Yourself
Note 2: The first 25 entries in the series have been packaged in a ChangeThis manifesto that was published on September 07, 2005. You can download that manifesto here:
ChangeThis Manifesto: 25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself (PDF, Free)
Note 3: My latest manifesto on ChangeThis was published on August 6, 2008. This is a photographic manifesto featuring 15 of my mini sagas (stories in exactly 50 words). Here is the link:
ChangeThis Manifesto: Mini Sagas – Bite Sized Lessons for Life and Business (PDF, Free)