We have all heard this before or we’ve even said this to others.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come to see you. I’ve been just sooo busy!”

“You know I’d like to come to your game, son, but I’ve been so busy at work and now I’m so tired, I need a day to recuperate.”

The fact is that most of us are always “too busy” and yet some very busy people still find the time to visit their friends or to make it to their children’s athletic events.

Freelance writer Thomas Nelson says, “Yeah, that whole ‘I was too busy’ excuse is a total crock.” He says the worst example is the phone call that was never made. Someone will say, “I just didn’t have the time to call you.”

I have a friend who runs the entire transit system in New York City. He takes a 15-minute lunch during a long work day and yet he will call me on his break to ask me how I am.

Nelson emphasizes the point that if someone can’t make a 30-second phone call, then he really doesn’t care enough and has made other people or duties his priority.

Then Nelson speaks of the friend you invited to your party who says, “I’ll try to make it. I’m really busy now.” That usually translates to, “I’m not coming. I don’t want to come. I have something else I want to do.”

A real friend would call before the party and say, “I’m sorry I can’t make it. I’ll give you a call later in the week.” Most importantly, he makes that call.

American comedian Kevin Hart said, “I don’t care how busy I am — I will always make time for what’s most important to me.”

I have listened to people who told me they wanted to write or they wanted to own a business. “I want to write a book about fishing,” said a friend. “Someday, I’m going to own my own bar and grill restaurant,” said another.

The excuse that always is given is the same. “Too busy working” or “Not enough time in the day after the kids go to bed to think about it.”

So does he really want that bar and restaurant? Thirty years later that “someday” still hasn’t come.

Actress Marie Dressler throws a bit of humor into a serious message about being too busy.

“If ants are such busy workers, how come they find time to go to all the picnics?”

Translation: “Too busy” people will still find the time to have their fun. If it doesn’t include you then that tells you what you need to believe.

Recent studies show there is a large decline in volunteerism in America. The reason most given is, “I’d like to, but I’m just too busy.”

The irony is that most people who volunteer do not have a lot of time on their hands. There is a saying, “If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do.”

How many times do people show up at funerals for a person they haven’t seen in years because, “life got in the way”? Sadly, the mourners include sons, daughters, and those who had been very close friends of the deceased. I knew a baseball coach years ago who told me that if someone he hadn’t seen in years comes to his funeral, he was going to sit up in his casket and say, “I’m too busy for you now. I’m getting myself ready to fly to heaven with the angels. Can you come back another day and see me in the cemetery?”

No one is that busy. It’s a statement that declares self-importance and when said is meant to mean, “Wow, I am needed by everyone. What a terrific person I am to have no time for myself.”

There is that one friend who many of us have that no one else seems to like. In front of others, he’ll sometimes act like he doesn’t care much about you.

Yet if you call this friend any time night or day and tell him you absolutely need his help, he will stop whatever he’s doing. He’ll leave his job. He’ll get out of bed in the middle of the night. He’ll be with you as soon as he can.

I’d like to think I’m that friend and I have friends like that who will be there for me.

Ask yourself this question. How can anyone be too busy for you?

Rich Strack can be reached at katehep11@gmail.com.