The Specialist
Life is fast. The time we spend on earth is fast. The cars we drive are fast. Advertisements flash in front of your eyes every 20 seconds. If you talk to an older Kiwi, one who knew the days of $75,000 homes in Remuera, they’ll tell you things have gone from fast paced to the speed of light. Luckily you’re used to it. You’ve adjusted to fit the hectic schedule, even if you don’t realize it.
If your time after work doesn’t allow a few weeds to be pulled, you hire a gardener. If the time you put in at the gym isn’t producing the desired effects quickly enough, you hire a private trainer. You want to travel Asia, you book your jungle route with a travel agent. We do these things because they save us time, and the people we hire are specialists. But with the changing of society from one that would have died of laughter at the idea of buying water in a bottle to one that recoils at the sight of a glass of tap water (even though there is absolutely no difference in the water quality), it’s difficult to target the reason that some specialists are accepted as mainstream and others are not.
Is it silly to hire a dog trainer? Surely you could get your dog to sit on command if just spent a few more hours with it. Is it ridiculous to pay an accountant to sit down and crunch the numbers you already have in your head but just don’t want to put the extra time into organizing? Why is it we talk openly about our visit to the dietician, but whisper about our appointment with a dating agent?
The answer is simple. It’s all about perspective. A person could easily scoff at your bi-weekly house cleaner when your home is only 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and some easy- to-clean living space, but someone else would applaud your efforts realizing how much time you’ve saved and how thrilled you are every time you come home to a sparkling home after spending the early evening playing tennis – get the drift?
Using an accountant to help your money situation is no more important or dignified than hiring an introduction agency to help your relationship situation. There is nothing wrong with hiring a specialist of any sort. If you can afford it, why wouldn’t you? Specialists put time back in your day. They hold your hand and tell you everything is going to be just a little bit easier while they’re around. I say relinquish the shame and fear, and branch out to a stranger who knows how to listen to what you are looking for and think on the same wave length as you.. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And when you’re hesitant to pick up the phone because a certain specialist seems too foreign, too radical, just remember one thing, bottled water.