Last night, around 10 pm, I received an email announcing that my son’s high school Lacrosse Banquet would be held in 23 days on May 30. Normally, I would be excited. This is my son’s first year on high school lacrosse, and since 4th grade, my wife and I have only missed four of his games due to work. On May 30, my wife is flying to Kentucky to work for the College Board as a Table Leader. On May 30, I am hosting an event at school for accepted students and graduating seniors from one of the programs that I run. My wife’s event was planned over a month ago. My event was planned over a year ago. At this point, neither event could be moved.
I was annoyed. How irresponsible is it to plan something that every athlete and parent should go to at the last minute. I wonder if the organizer knew the date and decided to communicate it at the last minute. After all, it was held at a banquet hall and not a cafeteria. I wonder if the organizer thought that I would drop everything, forgo my job, and clear my calendar to meet her scheduling desires. I was also saddened. I felt awful that my son would be at the event without either of his parents. And I was still angry which meant that I was not solving the problem
My feelings of emotion started to influence my thinking. Because of this, I was not solving the problem. Once I recognized the feeling of helplessness, and that I was not about to die, I realized that I had to solve the problem. I came up with three solutions, emailed my Dad, explained our situation, and invited him to go to the banquet with Aiden. He said yes. Both my wife and I were relieved. My Dad was excited because he never got invited to a banquet as a grandparent.
You need to recognize when the emotions are taking over and you are no longer thinking through the challenge. Hopefully, in the future, the people who run events for our children will realize that we need longer lead times to schedule our lives. Even more so, I hope that I will continue to recognize when I am losing focus on the challenge and just solve the problem.
Every day is an interview.
Everyday is an Interview 