It’s 2 am on Christmas morning and paramedics have just left our house. Our 9 year-old daughter suddenly became very ill in the night and we called in help.
To the trained eye, her syptoms were easily diagnosed: early stage pneumonia. To the untrained mother and father, there was reason for real concern.
For a long moment I held her in my arms, while we waited for the paramedics to arrive. She was shaking; both of us scared, both trying to stay calm. As I lay with her, I thought of the last few days when I have been too busy to spend any “quality” time with her. More than the usual passing there were no moments of special attention, fun or giggling together.
I had difficulty getting to sleep tonight, even before we found ourselves in an episode of Casualty. I was reflecting on my concerns, the usual list: work, money, noisey neighbours, difficult relationships, to-do lists, christmas dinner, kids and finally time, my biggest challenge as it slips through my hands at a dizzying speed. When I look back on the past few days, how much tme was spent on pointless worry and stress? Too much.
I realised, in that moment of fear while I held my little daughter, that money and work are playthings. Stress and bad vibes are just uselessly killing the joy. Time spent with the people I love, is real.
Since no living being can give me the gift of time and since I can’t make it myself, I can only choose how I spend time, and I intend to spend it on real things.
So, sod the christmas dinner, sod the difficult relationships, enjoy the playthings, but remember what’s real. Spend time there.
If I ever worry about trivia again, then I will slap myself silly.
So, all I want for Christmas this year is what I now have: my priorities straight.
Amen.
