Moments

"The years teach much which the days never knew." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

You have fewer and fewer opportunities to actually speak to those who give you their time. Time itself is often our most precious commodity, so when you get a person's attention, what do you do with it?

Do you try to connect emotionally, to say something memorable enough to be worth hearing? Or do you read another liner, gab a bit about the weather (without revealing any real new information or sense of urgency) or just say something so inane, it's not even heard, much less noticed?

It's easy to lose track of what those sharing their time with you are experiencing, are feeling, at any given moment, especially now, when shows are too often voicetracked hours, or sometimes days, ahead of airing.

I want to challenge you to make that connection each and every time you speak on the air. Because while you're talking about yourself or your station, your listeners are dealing with life, just as you do, once you leave the studio.

Birth, death, joy, grief, hope, rejection, elation, despair, confidence, doubt, self-doubt, awareness, love, loss, fear, trust, struggle, achievement, forgiveness, self-forgiveness, faith, acceptance...

This is the stuff of life.

This is the stuff that is universal, that lays in our hearts no matter what our race, or gender, no matter whether we are rich or poor, American or European or Asian, 17 years old or 77...

So, find a way.

Find a way to say something that matters, that makes hearing you at this moment the best decision your listener will make today.

Do it.

Time is short.

Life is short.

And you've been handed the best gift any of us can have: attention.