As usual, my four days in at the office went by in a blur. And, as usual, I feel like I got nothing accomplished there! Such seems to be life, eh?
Last night was Family Reading Night with my folks. Mama Pea read stories from the woods, from the writings of a local outdoor author. I read the first chapters of the first of two books a high school friend has written. She's a high school valedictorian cum Ivy League graduate cum breast cancer & reconstructive surgery survivor cum most successful stripper in Portland! Papa Pea read two articles, one of which was titled something like 'The 18 Most Important Things I Learned From My Father'.
One of the 18 lessons was to realize the difference between (and then act accordingly) the things that are IMPORTANT and those which are (or, more to the point, seem) URGENT. I asked him to read that portion again, and then we all discussed it. Because I, at first, didn't understand what the difference was (a-ha - which is the POINT!). To me, anything urgent is also important, and vice versa. But, no, that's NOT how we should look at them.
Case in point: today, the grass needs to be mowed. Too, I've had on my To Do list for WELL over a year an important, long (ha - I just realized I used the descriptive 'important'!) letter that needs to be written to dear, dear friends who were second parents to me when I lived in the little house down by the lake. So, why hasn't that letter gotten written in these past 365 days (or more)? Because it wasn't urgent. Is it important? Oh, yeah! If they were killed in a car crash tomorrow (god forbid!) would I forever be kicking myself that I hadn't gotten that letter written and delivered? To let them know that I love them and think of them on a nearly daily basis? You bet. So, why does the lawn always get mowed (or whatever) but the letter not written? Because I was putting the priority on those items I felt were urgent INSTEAD OF those which really ARE important. Is the lawn going to be there tomorrow or next week? Are these dear, dear friends? I can only hope so! But, what if they're not? What if they've already written me off in their lives because they haven't heard from me in so long? What if they're hurt by my long silence? Which is more IMPORTANT? The urgent call of the long grass or . . . people you love?
It's a shame that it took me until the reading last night to finally "get it". But, now that I have it, this knowledge, I'm gonna try hard to REMEMBER it . . . and act accordingly.
Peace out.
Ya know, I tried to write in my blog post this morning about that "urgent" versus "important" issue we discussed last night. I just couldn't get it to come out right so I gave up on it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, dear daughter, for nailing it down so succinctly in your post. The analogy you used explained the concept so well. (You be a good writer person!)
P.S. You were going to leave me your copy of L's book (that you read out of last night) but forgot! :o(
I was? I remember you saying that you wanted to read them and me telling you they were too racy for you! ;p
ReplyDeleteSince when are you censoring what I can and cannot read? (You could always black out all the parts you didn't want my virgin eyes to see.)
ReplyDeleteohmigosh you two are funny :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a nice post, I have found myself having the same feelings recently, and am trying to indulge in spending more time with hubby and the boys. I find myself getting so compulsive and anal about my chores and mounting "to-do" list I sometimes forget WHO I'm doing it all for.
Oh sometimes I wish I could distinguish between important and urgent,but at my age it all seems either urgent or important. Its like saying "what came first,the chicken or the egg"I have learned not to over obsess,like if I forget were something is ,it is starting to get scary,like are you losing your memory for good!now I;m trying to go with the flow and just get rid of a lot of unnecessary baggage. If I can;t remember if I have it why I have it[ unimportant things-a old scarf-a deco plate ect,] but I have to know where the very important things are birth cir. family bible] too much stress for me and for you I think.
ReplyDeleteHi Chickie! That's a great post, and Erin, I can so relate to your comment. That happens to me all the time. :( But, I'm going to try to remember this too!
ReplyDeleteThe Tyranny of the Urgent-it will suck you dry if you fall for it. I learned awhile ago that life is not an emergency and if I constantly live like it is, I'll never rest and enjoy all the blessings I've been given. Hurry is for amateurs-pros know that if it doesn't get done today, it will still be there tomorrow and because I didn't do it today, I got to do something way more worthwile. It's always people before projects I say!!
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