What is important to us, until in an instant it is clear that it isn't.

A few weeks ago, I got a call out of the blue from my mother’s minister that she had become disoriented and confused at Vacation Bible School. Life came to a halt for a few days as we tried to figure out what to do. She's better now and has sold her house in Charleston and is moving to her home town of Anderson to be closer to relatives who can help take care of her. But it has been a challenge I had not anticipated and it hasn't been easy, for me or my mother.

A couple of friends recently have faced similar challenges in their lives.

I was in a planning meeting with a friend, who made an excellent presentation of a very significant part of the project. He had thrown a lot of his passion into his ideas, and it showed. No sooner had he finished than he received a cell phone call. The panicked look in his eyes said something was seriously wrong. "I gotta go! I gotta go! My wife has had a bike accident" It turned out that his wife had fallen off her bike crossing a train track and was knocked unconscious. Fortunately someone was there to call 911. She seems to be OK now, except for a few stitches and some bruises, but it was very scary.

Another friend missed the same meeting. I got a note afterward from him. He said, "I lost my assistant to a family emergency last week unexpectedly and that was the straw that broke the camel's back regarding my attendance at the meeting. I'm having to spend every spare hour (that I'm not in the office) helping with my Mom who is rehabilitating in a facility here in town. We hope to have her back home in less than two weeks. That continuous struggle combined with the lack of support from my assistant forced me to work in the office. I hate I missed the meeting." I responded, "I understand about your mom. I've been there. At the end of the day, that's what's important." He replied, "You're right. That is what it’s all about but it is draining the energy from me. I am so pumped about where things are with my work and where they are heading but sometimes the whole "parenting my parents" routine just saps the very life from me. Anyway, I'm learning to juggle it a little better every day." Aren’t we all … learning to juggle it a little better every day. None of us is in nearly the control of our lives that we like to believe. throw our passion into big ideas for the future. That work is important to our businesses and to our communities. It seems to be at the very core of who we are and what is important to us, until in an instant it is clear that it isn’t.