Remember What's Important

I'm writing this issue aboard a flight from Seattle to New York. My wonderful wife lovingly got up early this morning to wash clothes for me to bring on my trip then selflessly took me to the airport.  I am sitting next to a fine couple who flew through Seattle from California on their way to New York to celebrate their 30th anniversary.  The flight is quite turbulent and I find myself having to use the backspace key quite frequently as the turbulence is giving my typo-itis.  There are many reasons why people go to the Northeast at this time of year.

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Some go to enjoy the beauty of autumn.  Some, like my seat-mates, are going on a seven-day cruise up the eastern seaboard.  Some go to enjoy post-season baseball as the Yankees or Red Sox are almost always participants (which makes us Seattle-ites insanely jealous). I am going for none of these reasons. My sister has stage IV lung cancer; I am going to be with her and her family.

Cancer is evil.  My mother died of colon cancer and both her parents died of colon cancer.  Everyone in my wife's family (except my wife) has had skin cancer. 

 It is an unforgiving disease and will not stop until it has either killed its host or has been defeated through treatment.  Just yesterday Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer, died of the particularly evil pancreatic cancer at the young age of 56.

In this issue I don't have any wise nuggets about how to better manage a project or how to lead people.  My one nugget to you is as follows:  Remember what's important.   Work hard, but don't let work chronically steal time away from you and your family.  Grow your leadership skills to where others want to follow you, but don't do so at the expense of your being a leader of your own family.  Take an interest in growing others, but not at the expense of teaching your children about your legacy.  Be truthful and candid when dealing with others, but also remember that there's a person on the other side of the message that needs you to be empathetic. I say these things as much a reminder to myself as to each of my readers.

Remember what's important and align how you spend your time to what's important; don't be the person that later looks upon life with regret because he or she had screwed-up priorities.