Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
There are times in life when work does take over.
For an accountant it may be during tax season. For farmers it may be the planting and harvest seasons. For a pediatrician it may be flu season, when her waiting room is bursting with sick kids. For an author, it is most certainly the few weeks before and after a book is published.
The book tour celebrating the release of On Fire led to dozens of interviews on radio, television, and podcasts and a speaking schedule that included a different city every day for fifteen consecutive days.
Knowing this would be a busy season, Beth and I agreed to say yes to it.
Yes to the travel, the time away, the distraction from being fully engaged at home.
And yes to the resulting stress on both of us.
In the midst of the two-week book tour, I returned home for eighteen hours before a flight back out of town. We went to church as a family; I made breakfast for the kids and enjoyed a little sacred time together. After chatting on the screened porch with Beth and shooting baskets with my boys, I went into the house to shower and prepare for the week ahead.
While packing some shirts in my suitcase, I heard the pitter-patter of footsteps. I turned around, and a few feet away stood my four-year-old, Grace, her blond hair pulled back, a large pink bow atop her head, her blue eyes twinkling. She greeted me with a bubbly, beautiful smile and a simple question: “Daddy, will you have a tea party with me?”
My flight was in less than ninety minutes.
I wasn’t packed.
I needed to change.
There were files to grab and things to do.
It just really wasn’t the right time.
So what did I do? I bent down, looked her in the eyes, smiled, and said, “Sorry, Grace, I don’t have time. Next time, when I’m back.”
Are you kidding me?
I looked into those beautiful, soulful blue eyes, grabbed that little hand, and practically shouted back, “Yes!”
Instead of packing a bag, I ate crackers and poured imaginary tea.
Instead of writing about leadership, we talked about princesses.
And instead of missing it because I was getting ready for my week, we enjoyed the gift of an ordinary, special moment.
I believe one of the secrets to real success, sustained happiness, and genuine inner peace is recognizing what time it is.
The famed philosopher William James, who lived at the end of the nineteenth century, when there weren’t today’s gadgets to demand one’s attention, wrote: “My experience is what I agree to attend to…without selective interest, experience is an utter chaos.”1
My experience is what I agree to attend to.
What a wise, thoughtful way to put it.
Yes, we can attend to the emails accumulating. We can attend to the news on TV. We can attend to the to-do list, the laundry, or our chores.
Or.
We can attend to the important.
We can savor the moment. Our children playing. The sun peeking over the horizon. Sipping a mug of coffee while sitting on the porch on a summer morning. A lazy visit with an old friend, talking about anything and nothing.
To live In Awe, we’ve got to remember to focus. Unless we consciously choose where we place our attention, our experience will disintegrate into utter chaos.
Work.
Play.
Rest.
Repeat.
See what that new cadence can do to your life.