Sunday, February 13, 2011

Trying to stay in the present with those we love.


When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

The above is one of Mom's  favorite hymns.

I'm a manager of a staffing service. I always have a million things to do at once and I'm constantly deciding which of these tasks are the most urgent. I deal with the workers, my staff and my customers.

Added on to all that, this week someone from the corporate office came and did an audit. She did her job well, she found all our mistakes, pointed them out to us and graded us on everything,  She wasn't pleased that we hadn't really been paying enough attention to certain things. I wasn't pleased with the whole process in general.

I hate it when my life gets this way because by the time I see Mom, my cell phone is ringing constantly. I don't turn it off because I think I could miss something.  I'm completely tired of listening, my patience level is low and usually a little later than she would like me to be. When I see her , she immediately starts telling me about how her day went an it's usually not things I want to hear. She talks about how long she had to wait to go to the bathroom , or how her bed wasn't made right. I feel bad because she doesn't like anything on her plate and for the fourth time this week, I forgot to bring her something I made that she would like. 

 
This doesn't only happen to people who are trying to care for their elderly mom, it happens when you have babies and they want you to read them a story but you don't have time, when a friend calls to talk to you about a problem and you cut them short. It happens when you have too much going on in your life and so you short change the ones you love the most.

 
Don't you hate that!

 

I'm going to try to take a deep breath before I go in to see Mom today and stay in the present. She deserves my full attention and so do the other people I love. As they say, life is a gift, that's why we call it the present. By the way, Happy Valentine's Day.