Start Where You Are • Finding the Words
About This Episode
In the fast-paced nature of time, where it’s all too easy to get caught up in what’s coming next (vs. what’s happening now), where we want to be (vs. where we are), and how we get there (vs. what we’ve accomplished to date), it’s good to pause and remember that life is fast, and it’s short. Wherever you are, may you find something wonderful worth holding onto in this present moment.
This week’s essay comes from the Finding The Words column, a series published every Wednesday that delivers a dose of communication insights direct to your inbox. If you like what you read, we hope you’ll subscribe to ensure you receive this each week.
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During a recent business trip, while I waited for my flight home to board, I picked up a sweet little exchange between a young boy and his grandfather. It was late; clearly, we’d all had a long day. The flight was delayed, and the boarding area had a general sense of restlessness as travelers worked to get wherever they needed to be and as quickly as they could each get there. Some people were at the desk hoping to rebook their flights, while others were deep into their devices—watching movies, catching up on work, or scrolling to see what they’d missed. Only very few people were in conversations with one another or connecting without devices as their medium.
Which made this one exchange even more poignant.
The little boy who sat next to me was about six years old. He wore cozy blue pajamas with airplanes on the chest and clung tightly to a well-loved stuffed bunny. While I suspect his parents wanted him to rest at that moment, he was flopping all over his grandfather’s legs, jittery and excited about getting on this plane.
“What TIME is it, Papa?” he repeatedly asked, in between contagious little laughs that made you know he was proud of the game he played with his grandfather. No matter how often he asked, the answer would always be the same.
“Now,” his grandfather would whisper.
“Where ARE we, Papa?” would follow, only to receive a similarly simple answer.
“Right here.”
The tenderness of this little exchange—a game played between a man and his adoring grandson, stuck with me, particularly this week, as I reflect on how fast and fluid time has become. Time is something that many of us use to get from here to there (“In six months, I’ll finish up my program” or “In two weeks, we’ll start the new contract.”) rather than something we hold onto while we are in it.
As my grandfather would say when I was a kid, “When you’re young, you want time to fly by, but someday you’ll wish you could give it back.” If only I’d listened.
Later this week, Mission Partners will close for a company-wide spring break. We started this tradition a few years back, realizing that some of the most rested time off is collective time off. Spring break, like our mid-summer break, provides a few days to disconnect from work and reconnect with the present moment. It’s particularly fitting considering how much time we spend supporting our clients in preparing for their futures.
As the little airport exchange reminded me, we are always right where we’re supposed to be, and the only time that matters is the time we have right now.
Bottom line: In the fast-paced nature of time, where it’s all too easy to get caught up in what’s coming next (vs. what’s happening now), where we want to be (vs. where we are), and how we get there (vs. what we’ve accomplished to date), it’s good to pause and remember that life is fast, and it’s short. Wherever you are, may you find something wonderful worth holding onto in this present moment.
