As my alarm went off to the local classic rock station this morning, I rolled over and said to my wife, “It’s been a long week.” Not surprisingly, she replied, “Uh.”
It’s a funny comment, really. No week is technically any longer than the other, but sometimes, our schedules and “on time” can make us feel as if we’ve jammed two weeks into one.
This was one of those weeks for me. It involved everything from leading a face-to-face learning session, to facilitating an interactive webinar, to attending a visitation for the deceased mother of a co-worker, to helping my supervisor get acclimated to office happenings after a two-week vacation, to soccer practice, to etc. We’ve all had these weeks, and we often have them on a weekly, or semi-weekly basis. This week, though, in particular, seemed incredibly taxing, and by comparison, may actually be less taxing than that of many others.
There is a tremendous benefit to being this busy as it showcases both the need we have for the work we are doing (both personally and professionally), and it also showcases the need our work has for us. In some ways, this helps us see that we are indispensable to the world around us, and further solidifies our need for simply “being.”
And yet when we are that busy, we aren’t simply “being.” We rarely have the time to live in the moment when the moment passes us by.
And, truthfully, since we all experience these “long weeks” at different times, we have to be cognizant that simply because this has been a relatively “easy” week for us (or challenging one), it doesn’t mean that is true for others, and therefore, we have to understand why people might not be at their best at all times, and why we might need to provide extra time for people to catch up, or, to simply breathe.
I welcome long weeks, but I also welcome the opportunity to have time to reflect. In fact, this blog post, which is meant to be exactly that, feels forced today, simply because everything is flying by. But, I’m committed to reflecting, and even ten minutes to do so is a win!