Clarity

Last week did not go quite the way I had expected it to go. In fact, if a week could ever go completely the opposite of how it should have been, last week would be that week.

One of my Developer Managers lost his father this past week. He went back to England to be with his family. An event like this reminds me that we only have so much time on this earth left with our parents. In the hustle and bustle of a visit, do I really take time to sit down and just be with them? Or am I being self centered in creating my own agendas?

There has to be a sense of clarity about what is important in our lives during such times. Deadlines, meetings, Friday crunches, pressure, politics and long hours suddenly do not seem to matter.

There are things at work that would have been much easier to handle if my manager was in town this week. And, if anything, it will drive me to change some aspects of the team (including cross training in areas of core functionality). I predict that this week I will be dealing with unhappy clients, so I am trying to visualize next Saturday.