This Proverb says, “Let your foot rarely be in your neighbor’s house, lest he become weary of you and hate you.” This Proverb is true with both friends and relatives. People who care about us will welcome us into their homes for a period of time. However, such hospitality has a limited life.
When we grow into adults and have our own homes and families, we have routines. When other people live in our homes, they disrupt those routines. Our lives become uncomfortable as we try to accommodate them. This is probably true for most adults.
Therefore, we should be sensitive to the fact that hospitality has a limited life. This was graphically illustrated to me by a friend who has a place in Palm Springs.
My Palm Springs friend and his wife have a guest house. They welcome friends and relatives to come and stay. However, they have what they call a ‘two rolls of toilet paper’ rule. They say that when the two rolls of toilet paper are gone, you also should be gone. That sounds funny, but they are sincere.
Therefore, we should be sensitive and not overstay our welcome. If we do not wear out our welcome, our friends and relatives will be delighted to see us again in the future. However, if we have a habit of overstaying our welcome, they will actually dread our future visits.
