Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

Faithful readers, Thank You for your patience while I took time to gather thoughts and prepare to navigate my future.

Technical innovator K.P. Reddy recently said he took a year off and recommended it to everyone in the Dallas audience.  Obviously, we cannot all afford to do that.  I took a month to see beautiful parts of the country and several friends, family and industry colleagues I hoped to reconnect with, all in an effort to better understand what the next step in my life looked like while taking a deep, cleansing breath.

This time away held many experiences but left the question, was this a trip or a vacation?  Secondarily, was it about the journey or the destination(s)?

I see a trip as simply logistics and vacation as holding joy both initially and upon reflection.  Each leg of the 29 days away was different.  Some about the journey, some about the destination and some days a mixture.

Now that I’m back and ready to turn the page to the next chapter, I evaluate each opportunity with journey or destination type criteria.

-Will this simply be a way to meet my financial obligations?

-Will I be able to use my experience in a meaningful way to help others and make a significant difference?

-Will I be able to find life/work harmony with this opportunity?

During the time away, I was contacted by a number of people and rather than posting an “out of office” message on my email, I read them as travel allowed and responded when I was able.  One particular message was from a colleague who recently had a loved one suffer tremendous medical trauma including a heart attack and a stroke after being admitted to the hospital for an entirely different reason.  The patient is recovering at home but the situation gave tremendous pause for my former coworker and he sought advice as to what his next steps should be.  I encouraged him to build his own list of journey/destination clarifying questions.

I think there is a lesson in here for each of us as we evaluate daily challenges as well as life milestones.

-how does this affect my journey or destination?

-is this [fill in the blank with your issue] worth my time to ponder or is it simply a logistical issue I need to decide on and move on? (Important versus urgent)

-what is of primary importance to me and am I living in support of that?

Whether consciously or subconsciously, we all seek to add value in a way that maximizes our experience and potential.  When we encounter life issues that force us off track, it helps to get in touch with our guiding principles before deciding our next step.

I encourage you to seek clarity on what’s important to you before the inevitable life interruptions.  Enjoy your journey, take vacations (not trips) of whatever length but do take them, separate the important from the urgent…and have a blessed weekend!