Last week, I wrote about Leadership by Example. I try to be that great roll model for my kids. I am typically a very calm, easy going person, but sometimes situations or people (usually a combination of both) just really get to me and I become that perfect role model of what not to do… and it is generally in a situation with plenty of other people around to witness my unraveling, complete with steam coming out of my ears like the cartoons of old. And, of course, at least one of my kids must be present to witness this, as well. Once the words are out or the action is done, there is no going back. Nothing I can do can take back the words I have spoken.
Sometimes I’ve just had all that I can stand. I try to be positive and patient, but sometimes I’ve had enough and feel the need to say something. Unfortunately, when I get to that point, it tends to not come across so well. As hard as it is to not say something at times, it is much harder to repair a damaged relationship and rebuild trust when those words come out and the tempers rise. I have not always been the calm person I generally am now. I used to have a very bad temper and would get angry very quickly and stay mad for awhile. One summer changed that for me. There were many fairly big life changes going on for me this particular summer. I spent a lot of time during those few months doing a lot of thinking, praying, reading, and talking to people. That is the summer I began to think about what was really important. After several weeks of thinking about this for awhile, I came to the conclusion that there are really very few things that are important in this life. We call a lot of things “important”, but are they really?
Sometimes it takes “falling off the wagon” to realize just how nice the wagon is. It is not good that I “lost it”, but it is good that it put me back in a place of thinking about what is truly important and getting refocused. Nope, the mix wasn’t great for this performance, but I doubt anyone really noticed or cared. After all, it is the details that take an audio mix from good to great, but a great mix is not really all that important in the long run. Nobody will remember the mix, but the relationships last forever.
Spend some quiet time over the next few weeks leading up to Christmas and think about what is really important. This is a time of year that we tend to loose all concept of what is truly important. Ironically, it is the time of year that we celebrate the birth of Jesus, who is actually the only really important thing.
