We want you back!
The subject line of the message worked. I opened the e-mail. It said: We want you back! I wondered where I had gone!
It turned out that I had a subscription expiring soon, and they wanted me to renew. They wanted me back. It was a smart move on their part. I might have forgotten to renew. It’s easy to do.
In many cases now, the default seems to be an auto-renew feature. Sometimes we sign up for it without even realizing it. But that stopped for me a few years ago when I realized I was paying for services I was no longer using. Because it was an automated payment, it didn’t raise any red flags. So, after that, I began looking for that auto-renew flag to make sure I turned it off.
You see, I want to decide if I’m coming back. So that’s why that message was smart for them and for me. It meant I took another look at that subscription and its value for where I am now. I was impressed that even though I’m sure it’s an automated feature, they cared enough to pay attention.
That message also brought to mind that, as we enter these last two months of the year, it’s a good time to begin to look at everything we’re doing and review where we are. And, more importantly, where we want to be.
It’s time to take stock and take our measure.
Some of us will find we need to pause. It may be time to renegotiate some of our goals.
Others will recognize it’s time to release those brakes we’ve kept on.
One of the lessons I’ve learned this past year is that it’s okay that some things don’t make it to the finish line. That’s something that used to be a need for me, but now I like that my life is more fluid. I can focus my energies, even as I take in what’s changing around me, and allow for the shifts that serve best. Even when it means something doesn’t get done. Something else will take its place, and that’s okay.
It means that a yes today may not mean a yes tomorrow. When we realize that the choice always remains, it gives us greater freedom.
There are times when perseverance and staying the course is absolutely the right thing to do. But only when and if that choice continues to be the right one.
Several things from this past year won’t be on my calendar next year. They served their purpose, and now I’m ready for what’s next. The lesson has been that as long as I try to hold on to old decisions, it means I’m not available for what’s possible now.
With subscriptions and just about every other decision we’ve made, coming back is always a choice.
And yes, that subscription got renewed!
