Here are two words to remember from three angles: Be there.
1: Be there for other people
The road to hell is paved with impotent thoughts and prayers. If you care about someone, be there for them. Write. Call. Cook food, knock on their door. Make the trip.
Ask some easy questions: What’s new? What are you into lately? How can I help?
If you want to be there for someone, think about what that actually means, and show up.
Be there for other people.
2: Be there on time
Punctuality is a character trait. Seems drastic, but showing up when you said you would reveals what you’re capable of.
This is obvious when you’re in school or at work. There are schedules, there are due dates.
But in your personal life, you might run late for casual things. Not horrendously late, but really leaning on that E in ETA. Packing the day of. Being the last to show up for lunch. The kind of late that feels trivial until you notice it’s rude — totally inconsistent with how you show up for things that “matter.”
Be there on time.
3: Be there for the moment
Attention is the most valuable thing you have. Hardly a revelation. But every year, it becomes clearer and clearer that a rewarding life, and all the Great Big Things you experience, are just accumulated moments when you were present. When you were actually there.
If you’re preoccupied with work, or on your phone, or chasing the next distraction, or floating a few feet outside yourself, come back. Pull that balloon of consciousness back into yourself.
Be there for the moment.