Did you ever have a friend who you hung out with all the time? Who you enjoyed talking to and being with? Your kids liked playing together and got along really well? I had one of these friends and then one day she discovered a business where she could work from home (kind of) and then suddenly that's all that she talked about. Any time she called it was only to talk about her business. If I tried to talk about our kids or a play date the subject was quickly changed and we went back to her next meeting or a new product or something of the like. (if you're thinking this may be you then you're probably wrong as this person quit talking to me ages ago and doesn't want to have anything to do with me anymore).
I too, work from home and have for many years now. However, one of the first things they taught me when I got started was that you don't go chasing down your friends and family and, instead, talk to those people who are actually interested in hearing about what I have to offer. There is no friendship that is worth losing simply because they aren't interested in what I have to offer. This friend wasn't taught this concept in her business. Now, I did look into her business and even checked out some of the products and the company. They are a good company and have a lot to offer to some people, however, I don't need or use most of what they have so I didn't make a very good customer for her and, therefore, I didn't meet her qualifications to be her friend anymore.
It's sad to have to lose a good friendship over something like this. Ok, so I've probably been dwelling on this a little too much lately, but the fact is that I sometimes miss this friend and talking to and hanging out with her. I miss getting emails from her that are about her kids or her family and not about her business. I miss reading her Facebook updates about how her kids are growing or what they're doing and I'm kind of tired of reading only about her business or how to be a better business person.
A lot of home-based businesses are really pretty decent if you look into them but I think this is why they get such a bad reputation and people despise them so much. It isn't the home businesses that people dislike, it's what they do to the people who work them. It's the way that people change when they start "working from home". And it's the way that people start treating their friends when they say that they aren't interested.
I don't think that I've done this to any of my friends, but if I have then I'm really sorry (and please let me know cause I don't want something like this hanging in the air). I love Melaleuca and all that they offer to me and my family and the way that their products have changed our home, and I do talk to my friends and family about their products. However, I also understand that not everybody is ready for or interested in their products the way that I am (and if you are interested, feel free to bring it up cause I do like to talk about it-just not to the point where you don't want to talk to me anymore. I care about you and your family and what they're doing more than I care about having you purchase from my company). It is OK to say no.
So, has anybody else had this sort of experience before? How did you handle it? Did you talk to the person and have a positive outcome? Or did it bomb the way it did for me when I nicely told her I wasn't interested in hearing about her business but still wanted to be her friend?
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Thankfull
As we approach the Thanksgiving season people everywhere are starting to think of what they're thankful for. I have been thinking of what I'm thankful for all this year, and there is so much, the list goes on. Let me see if I can start with a decent list.
-First, I am thankful that we were able to leave Australia this year. I totally loved living in Alice Springs and I loved all of the friends we made there and it was really hard for me to leave. However, I also know that it was the right move for us and that it has led us to where we are now.
-I am also thankful that we were able to stay with my parents at their house for a bit. It's been so long since I lived at home and it reinforced all the reasons why we don't go back once we move out. I love my parents but am so thankful for the distance between us and it makes me even more thankful for all the things I have, especially my own place.
-I'm very thankful to be out of and away from the Army. They were really good to us for 10 1/2 years but the time came for us to depart and I'm glad the transition was as smooth as it was and that it's done and over with. I'm so grateful to never have to deal with Army training, duty and politics ever again.
-I'm extremely grateful that the job in Ohio fell through and that they never called us back after we signed their contract. This may sound funny but it led to us being able to, instead, get this job with SNC and move to Colorado instead of Ohio. I know the job in Ohio would have been OK and that we would have survived, but I'm really glad to be so central to family and be able to see them all more often and not have it be impossible to make the trips.
-I'm thankful that we were able to find this house and be able to buy it and get into it so quickly. This house is home and everything about it is right for us. We had a really great realtor (which we randomly picked out of a realty magazine) and she became a good friend too.
-I am ever so grateful for my husband, my kids and, especially, for this baby who is growing within me. I'm thankful that this baby moves and wiggles all the time and that she's growing and developing the way she should. I can hardly wait to hold her. I love my other 5 kids and the smile they bring to me every day. I love watching them grow and mature and I really enjoy watching them learn new things and the light in their eyes. I especially love my husband. He is so good to me and our childrena and he works so hard to make sure that we don't have to struggle. I love him so much.
-I am thankful for friends and family all over the world and the support we can give each other, even from across the country or half-way around the world. Every one of you means so much to me and I don't know what I'd do without you.
-I'm really thankful for Facebook. It makes it possible for me to keep up with old friends and family and feel more like they still live nearby and not the miles apart that we actually are. Sometimes life can get lonely in a new state, city and neighborhood where you know nobody but this has made it so that those miles don't seem so far.
I know that there are so many more things that I'm thankful for but this is the beginning of my list. I hope you all get to have a safe and happy Thanksgiving and that this season will help us look more to what we have rather than what we don't. I also hope that looking at what we're grateful for will help us to be more giving during the Christmas holidays that lay just around the corner.
-First, I am thankful that we were able to leave Australia this year. I totally loved living in Alice Springs and I loved all of the friends we made there and it was really hard for me to leave. However, I also know that it was the right move for us and that it has led us to where we are now.
-I am also thankful that we were able to stay with my parents at their house for a bit. It's been so long since I lived at home and it reinforced all the reasons why we don't go back once we move out. I love my parents but am so thankful for the distance between us and it makes me even more thankful for all the things I have, especially my own place.
-I'm very thankful to be out of and away from the Army. They were really good to us for 10 1/2 years but the time came for us to depart and I'm glad the transition was as smooth as it was and that it's done and over with. I'm so grateful to never have to deal with Army training, duty and politics ever again.
-I'm extremely grateful that the job in Ohio fell through and that they never called us back after we signed their contract. This may sound funny but it led to us being able to, instead, get this job with SNC and move to Colorado instead of Ohio. I know the job in Ohio would have been OK and that we would have survived, but I'm really glad to be so central to family and be able to see them all more often and not have it be impossible to make the trips.
-I'm thankful that we were able to find this house and be able to buy it and get into it so quickly. This house is home and everything about it is right for us. We had a really great realtor (which we randomly picked out of a realty magazine) and she became a good friend too.
-I am ever so grateful for my husband, my kids and, especially, for this baby who is growing within me. I'm thankful that this baby moves and wiggles all the time and that she's growing and developing the way she should. I can hardly wait to hold her. I love my other 5 kids and the smile they bring to me every day. I love watching them grow and mature and I really enjoy watching them learn new things and the light in their eyes. I especially love my husband. He is so good to me and our childrena and he works so hard to make sure that we don't have to struggle. I love him so much.
-I am thankful for friends and family all over the world and the support we can give each other, even from across the country or half-way around the world. Every one of you means so much to me and I don't know what I'd do without you.
-I'm really thankful for Facebook. It makes it possible for me to keep up with old friends and family and feel more like they still live nearby and not the miles apart that we actually are. Sometimes life can get lonely in a new state, city and neighborhood where you know nobody but this has made it so that those miles don't seem so far.
I know that there are so many more things that I'm thankful for but this is the beginning of my list. I hope you all get to have a safe and happy Thanksgiving and that this season will help us look more to what we have rather than what we don't. I also hope that looking at what we're grateful for will help us to be more giving during the Christmas holidays that lay just around the corner.
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