I disappointed myself this week. I attended a funeral for a life-long friend and skipped out on the reception as I had a meeting to go to. I thought it was important for me to keep my meeting, since my co-worker traveled into town and the meeting had been on my calendar for a couple of weeks. I had it all wrong.
During the funeral I began to have a sickened feeling because I thought, this is not what life is all about. My priority needed to be there, at the church and with the family and friends who also lost someone special in their lives. I was so enjoying the camaraderie celebrating my friend’s life and the love that I felt in the church, I didn’t want to leave.
The service ran longer than expected, and during the eulogies I had to text my co-worker to let her know I’d be late for my meeting. At that point, I was completely disgusted myself. Once the phone came out to text, I was no longer present at the funeral. Instead, I was worrying about being late for my meeting and not wanting to be rude to my co-worker.
It still bothers me. I am sad writing this blog, and feel like I missed out on the final celebration in honor of my friend. In the end, my co-worker would have completely understood if I had cancelled my meeting. She even offered that after I texted her. But I wanted to keep my word and commitment.
The message of this blog is – LESSON LEARNED. I will never do that again. My priorities were completely out of order. I easily could have taken the day off.
If you need a reminder on prioritizing your life, this is a great article from Mike Robbins on 3 Ways to re-prioritize your life.
Fuel up and celebrate those you love.
About Peggy Paul
Hi, Peggy – I can relate to this so well. One of my life’s significant “wake up” call moments was at a funeral – very similar situation. My focus and priorities during my teaching moment still make me feel sad. And it is a moment that helped me change how i live. I am grateful for that gift.
Thank you for sharing this, Peggy. I have definitely made similar mistakes. It was so great to wake up and have this blog sitting at the top of my inbox this morning, helping me start my day on the right foot. <3 me some SheTaxi!
Peggy you have a lot of integrity.
Peggy, it’s so brave of you to share something like this. Personal and real. We have all been in these similar situations and you’re absolutely right–we need to stop and think about what life is all about. Thank you for the reminder; you’ve helped others put things into perspective by sharing what you learned. We all need a little bit of that sometimes.
Melissa, Kate, Sally and Gaye – thanks for sharing your thoughts and support. Like you Gaye, I still feel sad about it and then get a big smile on my face thinking about my friend’s lively spirit as I remember him. He would’ve said, “Peg-o, you need to let it go.” I’ll continue to work on that and ensuring I keep what’s important as most important. Thanks again.