Have you noticed that the more tools we have to "help" us, the more it
seems we "must" do? I find it curious and rather troubling that so many
talented people say they are "stressed" or "swamped" or "over-whelmed" and
just can't get their most important projects or priorities done.
How can this be?
Pretty much everyone I know is busy all the time. Our phones ring, we race
from one meeting to the next appointment, then home at the end of the day.
We work so hard! And yet those things we truly desire get pushed aside for
"later." How can we be so busy and yet see so little progress toward our
dreams?
And then last week, Tim Russert died. He died at his desk, recording
voice-overs for last week's broadcast of Meet the Press. Mr. Russert and I
were about the same age. I had the privilege of meeting him briefly while
we waited for a flight a few years ago and he struck me exactly the way he
seemed on television--friendly, relaxed and focused. He wrote a wonderful
book about his father, and based on his memorial service this week, he was
loved and respected by the most famous and powerful people in our country.
He's gone too soon.
My sense is that too many of us have dreams we are "putting off for
someday" or working on far too slowly. We get caught up in the "thick of
thin things" and our priorities are sacrificed on the altar of daily
"have-to's." One of life's great tragedies is to die with your "music still
inside you." Don't let that happen to you!
A friend of mine is an accountant and partner in a local CPA firm. He makes
a good living, has maybe a dozen employees, and I gather he likes his work.
But every time we talk, he tells me about the travel he and his wife want
to do. He's never been outside the U.S. and he dreams of visiting Europe,
the Great Wall of China, and Australia. He talks about this constantly, but
always in the future tense. He has "no time" and "can't afford it this
year." What a shame!
Yet a member of his staff, a dynamo name Rhonda, takes a month off after
tax season each year. She's helped build schools in Honduras and taken
medical supplies to Cuba six times. She's learned Spanish, and her teenage
children have dug wells, taught English and set up internet cafes in
Central America because she has the time. My buddy has "no time" and "no
money" but his employee does! I find that ironic and terribly
thought-provoking.
What are your dreams and priorities? What would you do if you "had the
time" and knew you couldn't fail? What wonderful projects are you working
on slowly or hoping to build "some day?" Start now! Allocate time, energy,
a few dollars or whatever it takes, and make it happen!
Yes, mowing the lawn or cleaning house or volunteering may be important,
too, but not if they get in the way of your most important values! Whether
your dream is running for office, writing a novel or spending more time
with loved ones, make it happen. Tim Russert was only 58 and he
accomplished a lot. I don't know if he accomplished his most important
dreams or not, but his time is up. The hour is late, perhaps later than we
know.
Do not let your time and life "slip by."
Written by Philip E. Humbert, PhD
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