I sacrificed my usual Tuesday routine this morning to do something way more important, to spend some time with a friend and colleague. He invited me to discuss a number of business activities in our organization from planning to budgeting to performance evaluation, and to ask my advice and help.

In the conversation we found time to share some of our personal experiences and business history and to discover some common beliefs that guide us in our business and personal lives. Also in the conversation my colleague made sure to share with me how much he appreciated my experience, knowledge, and contributions to our organization, and I did the same for him.

During the conversation he stopped to apologize for maybe getting a little too deep or personal, and I immediately assured him that I didn’t mind; that in fact, I’m the type of person who doesn’t mind sharing a little more than many who maintain a lot of surface relationships, but not many close ones. In the end we both walked away feeling uplifted and validated by our meeting, and motivated to soldier on with our respective assignments. That was a successful meeting and a rewarding interaction.

I’ve been thinking back on that conversation and realizing that, unfortunately, I don’t make enough of an effort to ensure successful and rewarding interactions happen within my own family. Perhaps the constant closeness of life in the sandwich dulls my perception of the need and lessens my investment in those family relationships. Perhaps I take things too much for granted. Perhaps I get a little too self absorbed and selfish. Perhaps I just don’t think enough before interacting with the rest of my family. For whatever reason, appreciation has been seriously lacking around here, at least from me to them.

So, be it resolved that I will pick up and run with the ball more often, and express my appreciation to my family more often for everything they do for me and for us.

Living appreciatively in the sandwich…

-Pops