Wait, even Just a Minute

The timeshare salesman made a good bit of sense. We were also on vacation and very happy. We loved the location.

Maybe.

Sadly, we only had that very presentation to decide at the reduced, big sale rates. These discounts couldn’t, wouldn’t ever be repeated again and if we decided NOW we could also have a free vacation package!

What is happening? What should we do?  Wait and see.

If you are not required to decide, then take time.

Just now politics, religion, and the pandemic appear to demand immediate opinions from all of us in areas where most of us lack knowledge. Learning an issue, finding out if an apparently hot source is trustworthy, takes time. Checking up, doing research, need not take forever if we cultivate a pool of experts with a variety of perspectives whose facts or opinions have checked out in the past.

One sound principle: People rarely need our quick opinion on most topics. 

This is not just true on social media, but in work, home, and life choices. My dad has given me a great deal of good advice, but one truth I should have listened to more is: wait. Even if a decision must be made in the next minute, take the entire minute to calmly, prayerfully, rationally make that decision.  

His sound principle: Take all the time you have (no more!) to make a decision. Get all the information you can, then decide. 

Generally, we do not need to react, decide, or opine in a minute. If we stop, ask for time to consider, then the issue often vanishes! People who are arguing often settle the conflict themselves. Options not available at the moment, may exist later. Information grows with time.

An epic crisis that seems to require my entering the fray, does not always need my immediate support as much as considered help. Hastily joining the movement-of-the moment  is often less effect than finding out the depth of the problem and working steadily and quietly with people who have been addressing that same problem for years. The religious group Z that pops up to “save x from y!” too often is using x to raise money from fear of y to line the pockets of Z.  How often I have seen good work overwhelmed by a spotlight that then vanishes when media attention wanes.

My local church often has a charity, with almost no overhead, or an international group I trust working in the same region or areas!

We did not buy that timeshare. Having to decide, made me decide. I took a bathroom break and Googled the company, the offer, and reviews. The results were not promising and the salesman dodged any questions that came from my quick research. (The combination of the smart phone and access to a private bathroom “office” must have ruined many timeshare high pressure sales.)

We took all the time we had. We got all the information we could. We decided: no.

Leaders have to decide and sometimes we do not get the time, information, or wisdom we need. A leader cannot dither ever: a time comes for choosing. This is not usually when the salesman, the media, the impatient demand that decisions be made, but there is time to catch the tide. One does what one can!

Dad showed me another truth about deciding: If the times or data change, change the decision if you can. If you made a bad decision, say so. 

I watched Dad do this and found that most of us do not mind a leader changing his or her mind. A few decisions, like marriage, are forever, but many are not. Time can show where we should change our minds.

Thanks, Dad.