Most of us can remember plans we had that worked out. And most of us can remember plans we had that started with a blaze of glory … only to drop outta the sky. Hitting the proverbial ground with a loud “splat!” Due to our own randomness or the randomness of the world around us.
Random happens.
My recent plans were to launch a new .com for Right Brain Planner and finish up a course I was taking. The first days of 2010 were going as {creAtively} planned. Then, something random happened. The other .com I had been compiling for the past year was hacked.
It has almost been a week since I was {creAtively} on-task, copying files and creating page charts for the new blog. Then: [In-Progress. Again.]
Random happened.
And I decided to pause everything, to embrace the serendipity of randomness and see where it took me.
What I discovered amidst my dated notes — piled hither and yon across my desk and counter top — was a common thread. It was surprising to me that I had not seen it before.
It was distinct. As though it were even tangible: Thick and nubby, a bright red cord with tiny threads of silver reflecting the light.
It was something I had previously ignored in my paced steps to accomplish the goal of crossing off my To-Do list …
I was lying to myself regarding my priorities.
The random act of a malicious hacker had created an opportunity for me. An opportunity to examine the truth about my priorities. Because as I looked at the {creAtive} collections of dated notes, I discovered the common thread regarding the delays in my deadlines.
My daily priorities had been to help other people accomplish their priorities. Listening and researching and assisting. And doing so without balance.
Helping others is part of my role as advocate. It is part of everything I do. However, I was ignoring the essential principle of advocacy: Balance. You cannot give what you do not have. As in, put on your oxygen mask before assisting another person with hers.
I was giving away my time, without stopping to evaluate my spending of energy and time versus my:
- investing (education, research and collaboration)
- savings (down time, rest and reserves)
And it took a random, malicious hacker for me to stop and notice!
Thus, embracing random {instead of resisting, protesting and going into overdrive} provided me the investment opportunity of a refresher course: Personal priorities cannot be exclusively determined by the priorities of others.
What about you? Do you embrace randomness? When your scheduled priorities veer off track, do you see it as an opportunity or do you put the proverbial hammer down and shift into overdrive? Random just may be bearing gifts! Check it out!
“It is not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, ‘What are we busy about?’” ~Henry David Thoreau
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