With responsibilities and high expectations of ourselves, we often can’t image “dropping everything”.
We believe that meetings need us.
Kids can’t miss a practice.
Work must be delivered on time – no matter what.
The list goes on.
However, life throws curve balls, and we need to give ourselves the grace to drop everything.
To be settled that the rest of the world will keep going even if we have momentarily shifted our focus.
My Story
Back in mid-January, our 16-year-old pup was on a fast health decline.
We were managing her care around all the other life commitments.
Then, on a Thursday, it became clear that we had reached the end.
I had several meetings that I felt were important.
Normal me would have worked to plow through and “do it all”.
However, I took a breath and a different approach.
I sent notes explaining what was going on.
The meetings were moved to Monday.
Empathy came from every communication.
People understood.
They wanted me to take care of our pet and my mental wellbeing.
They gave me grace. So, I gave myself grace.
There was no work – just a focus on my family and our beloved dog.
This is what matters and the approach that needed to be taken.
I would like to remind my future self to share, don’t try to be strong and plow through all the time.
Others are there to support you.
Be kind to yourself.
Your Turn
Have you had situations where you felt you needed to “plow through”?
When have you dropped everything to attend to something in your personal life?
How might you approach a future event differently by giving yourself some grace?