After more than a half a century living in exile in this “valley of tears”… I’ve finally come to a monumentally big breakthrough…
The Trappist monks are really on to something.
Because it seems to me that the more I just shut my big trap (get it?… trap… Trappist monks?), the better off everything — and everybody — is in my life.
In fact, based on the response from my “PS” yesterday, if I just shut up and never mail this list again… almost nobody would miss me.
And I’m OK with that. Because I’m deliberately speaking less and less these days.
As little as possible, as a matter of fact.
I’ve even been keeping track of it. In almost all of my personal communications, it’s about 80/20. And in many cases, 90/10.
In other words, the other person speaks 80 percent of the time and me 20 percent.
Or, in the case of my phone conversations with almost all of my friends and business contacts, it’s 90 percent them talking and 10 percent me.
Or sometimes 95/5.
In the past I would have tried to butt in as often as possible. Ya know, I gotta get my point across, right?
No… no I don’t.
Nobody… and I do mean nobody… gives a rat’s pitootey about my point, my thoughts or my feelings. They just want to be heard and understood.
In fact, people are dying (literally) to be heard and understood.
And that really means this:
They’re dying to be loved.
And it appears that I’ve been the one chosen to love them.
So I’m happy to just shut up.
It’s kinda funny. The other day I spoke with a lifelong friend for over an hour. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I maybe spoke a grand total of 30 words.
He only asked one question of me, “So how have YOU been?”
I responded, “I’m doing OK.”
And then he was off to the races again.
The next day he texted me and thanked me from the bottom of his heart for speaking with him. He said, “Our conversation was SO inspiring.”
How, pray tell, did I inspire him?
Silence.
Listening with love.
You see, my “conversations” are not really conversations at all. It’s just me just shutting my big pie hole.
What’s the point of all this?
There is no point. Because, as I’ve suspected for quite some time… and have now confirmed from yesterday’s email when I asked you a small favor that would have taken a grand total of 5 seconds… nobody on this list is listening anyways.
So no, there’s no point.
“Oh, it’s just dumbass, doddering Doberman Dan running his big yap again about stuff that nobody cares about.”
Except for maybe the truly infinitesimal souls left on this planet who aspire to sainthood by overcoming the most heinous sin on earth…
Not loving enough.
All the best,
Doberman Dan
P.S. As much as I’d like to be rid of them… as long as I’m still forced to live in exile, sending up my “sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears” (I’m curious if there’s anybody left on this earth who gets that reference)… I still have two bad habits I gotta support:
Sleeping indoors and eating. (Although later this week I’m gonna give up that second habit for 7 to 10 days.)
Sooooooo… if you feel moved to do so… and would like to help me support those two bad habits… and help my wife and Chiqui Ricky (the Shih Tzu who thinks he’s a Doberman) sleep indoors and eat, too…
Check out this letter I wrote here…
In addition to feeling great about helping a fellow pilgrim in the valley of tears put a roof over his head and feed his lil’ family… you’ll also discover how to make a whoooooole lotta loot.
Because I’ll reveal the best way I’ve found in over 30 years for getting the highest quality new customers… and making maximum profits from them… as soon as possible.
Pax vobiscum.
