Intermission
In life, there are no intermissions … so you must spend time with the people you love.
This last weekend, our whole family packed it up and traveled to Baylor University to see our 21 year old, Emily, dance in Sing.
Sing is quite the musical production. And I must say the Pi Phi’s brought down the house with their winning act – ‘Welcome to your 80s, Ladies.’ To see those precious twenty-something year old co-eds dressed up like geriatrics. It was brilliant. Endearing. Funny. And creatively choreographed.
It was quite the weekend.
Watching Emily dance in Sing got me all nostalgic about squeezing joy out of now.
Unlike Sing, life provides no dress rehearsal. And there is no well planned intermission. The important stuff is all happening right here. Right now. Demanding we stay fully present.
Saturday night, before the big show, I was having a little pre-Sing meltdown because I had so much to do. I needed to prep for radio and an upcoming speaking engagement. I had a magazine article breathing down my neck. I was feeling a freakish amount of pressure. And I kept thinking, I will never get all this stuff done!
I was so wigged out that I even asked my husband if I should take my laptop and work on work during intermission. I know … I’m a freak.
Happy to say, I did not succumb to the weirdness. I attended Sing with just my family, not my laptop. And not only did I get to see Emily dance (and win!) but I also had a profound talk with my son about his life plans. This talk was not planned. And it happened during the intermission.
Looking back, I realized an important truth: Ambition can be such a whore. It can drag you away from the very thing you love the most. It whispers, entices … selling delusions. And when bathed in stress, it can bring you down.
I don’t want to wake up 20 years from now, having adulterating my life – and my greatest loves – to the lie that productivity secures the win.
I am relieved to realize this time, I did the right thing.