I was just sitting down to write a post about making your family your first priority when ironically – or perhaps serendipitously – my oldest son woke soon after going to bed, crying in pain with an earache.  So the laptop quickly closed, and I spent the next few hours curled up with a warm and snuggly six year-old.  Particularly set in the context, it struck me how easily sobs abated simply by putting my attention, and my presence in the right place.

Making family priority #1 seems more clear-cut in these moments of crisis than in the everyday.  Is it more important that I comfort a sick child or write?  The answer there is obvious.  But in our day-in, day-out life, it sometimes becomes more difficult to ensure that our priorities are reflected in our actions.  We become caught up in the “Tyrrany of the Urgent” or commonly suffer from “Intention Deficit Disorder”.  [Read more…]