Gnarly voicemails

By Jeff Becraft

I’m on my second illness in six weeks. What kind of shenanigans is this?

I guess all the running around over the last month and eating fast food and being overly tired and all the pollen in the air… I guess it has finally caught up with me.

Decades ago, when we first moved to South Carolina, I went to see my doctor. I told him, “I think I have developed allergies.” He looked at me, and he gave me his 12-years-of-college, medical-school-and-residency… and-thousands-of-dollars-later answer and said, “Everybody in South Carolina has allergies.”

Well, the other day, I had to make a phone call to an important person, and I didn’t get them live; it went to their voicemail. As soon as their greeting was over and I start to speak, I go into a dramatic coughing fit. And it was a gnarly sounding cough. Then I tried to talk to apologize for that. I couldn’t even get any words out… and then I start coughing some more.

I barely got through the voicemail, got off the phone and immediately sent them an email apologizing for my gnarly voicemail that I had just left them. If I were them, I would be thinking, “Why did this person even call me? They can’t even talk, and then they’re coughing in my ear. What kind of shenanigans is this?”

Well, it just goes to show that timing is a very important part of life. And if you have a gnarly cough going on, it may not be the best time to make a phone call.

But it is a great time to have a great day!

Jeff Becraft is the Director of Our Place of Hope and the Director Emeritus for Youth Corps and has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. Our Place of Hope is a paradigm shift for people living with mental illness that encourages them to regain meaning, purpose, and hope for their lives. You can connect with Jeff at  jbecraft4TN@gmail.com.