How Time Flies
21 months ago when our daughter told us she was going to have her first child, all we could think about was becoming grandparents. 12 months ago when Olive was born we said we didn’t want to miss any of the stages of her growing up. And this weekend at her 1st birthday party, we realized how time flies.
Even though we started the process of moving back to Las Vegas all those months ago, it wasn’t until just recently that we completed the move and began the daily observations of how quickly kids grow and learn and change. And now we’re figuratively kicking ourselves for not moving faster.
But it’s not so easy to move quickly, and I don’t just mean the process of physically moving. Thinking, planning and moving towards the future are difficult when houses have to be bought and sold, things to do have to be arranged and organized, and habits have to be changed and revised. We all talk about change and what it takes to accomplish it, but deep down we drag our feet when change is imminent. Whether in an organization, a family or in ourselves, we hold onto the past and all that we know about it, and hesitantly and reluctantly squint at and move towards the future.
But once we get through any of life’s changes, it’s usually hard to understand what the reticence and anxiety were all about. Once we see the opportunities and experience the excitement that the future holds we are shocked at the foolishness that led to dragging our feet in the first place. And in this case, once we saw how much Olive had and continues to grow we knew that we had to change our whole mindset in order to keep up with our grand-parenting interests and responsibilities.
So we’ve now learned all over again how important it is to understand what’s needed in life and to quickly get on with getting there. Olive is 1, and we now realize how important it is to be there for and be a part of every one of her days. And hold on: her parents just announced that soon Olive is going to be a big sister! So it’s good that we’re already here and now won’t have to miss any of our next grandchild’s days of growing and learning. The moral of this story: change is good. Because life together with family is good!
My message this week is about the timeliness of acting on our goals:
“Have a bias toward action - let's see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away.” Indira Gandhi
Professionals always have a plan! They are deliberate and disciplined, and that helps them to succeed. Like a carpenter who “measures twice and cuts once”: simple, straight-forward and assured gets the job done right. So, do you have a plan? Doesn’t matter if it’s for something big or small – everything goes better when it’s planned. And while it’s good to know exactly where you’re going and how you’re going to get there, it’s also important to sweat the small stuff: break the big plan into small steps and then take the first step right away. After that, re-look at the plan often and amend it as needed from all that you learn along the way. Remember: if you want to do something – make a plan now and have a bias towards action. Be prepared and active today!
Stay well!