I was in a conversation with a friend last evening, and he made a passing remark that he is a very careless person.
His comment triggered for me the memory of a blogpost
I wrote sometime in early 2021 titled Of Pens And Phones.
Contrary to what my friend said, carefulness is a trait everyone possesses. We intuitively know when to be careful. When we know something is important or valuable, our instinct to be prudent gets activated.
Think about it.
- If you value money, you will be very careful about spending money.
- If you value a relationship, you will handle it with care.
- If you value your health, you will be careful about what you eat and take care to exercise to keep fit.
- If you value your time, you will not waste it.
- If you value the commitments you give, you will do everything in your power to deliver on the commitments you give.
By implication, we are careless when we don’t value something.
So, if you don’t value time, you will be very comfortable wasting time. If you don’t value the commitments you give, you will be ok not delivering on your commitments. If you don’t value your health, you will be wayward in your personal habits.