This is it! This is at the core of why I started writing about people saying something can’t be done or they can’t do something for you. Liz Strauss hits the nail on the head with her short post about ‘I can’t’. She says can’t has at least 4 meanings in her internal dictionary:
can’t: I am facing a roadblock.
can’t: I am powerless.
can’t: I am without the skills.
can’t: I am unwilling.
The word can’t says more than just acknowledging that something can not be done. Other definitions might include:
I don’t care enough
I am too busy
I don’t view you or your ministry as important
I’m too lazy to give this any consideration
Check Clif’s comment responding to my recent post to see the best way, in my opinion, to avoid answering with ‘I can’t’ and actually empowering the requester to take the first step.
What do you think?
Thank you so much for linking to my post — not mainly because of the link, but because it brought me here and to the posts with Cliff’s comments. What great thoughts you have going on. I *can’t* wait to share.
Liz