After being deemed palliative Mom did not die for nine months. I learned that time is finite and infinite at the same second.

A friend had given me a business book on procrastination called Eat Your Frogs.  One chapter exercise was to quickly name the three things you had to do 100% correct right now!  This was a business book so they were looking for answers like, “Get my billing completed” or “Hire a new salesman” or “Execute an advertising plan.  And there was an expectation to ACT.

I was past that stage in my life so I was able to apply this principle to my personal life.  The very first thing that popped into my brain was, “Care for my mother.”  Next was, “Care for my mental and physical health” and my dear husband came in third, my business was fourth.  What was amazing was as soon as I was able to shift my priority to put Mom first, the rest of my busy life fell into place.  I no longer tried to juggle everything into first place.  A year later my Mom passed, I had survived the journey positively and my husband and business survived in third and fourth place for those twelve months.

I am a busy person that runs full speed with a full plate yet that final spring I was able to sit with Mom under a beautiful Japanese maple for over a month. If you had asked me three years ago did I have time for that I would have said of course not, I am busy and I have important things to do! I watched the tree go from bud to full leaf.  I sat by her chair in the garden, holding hands, eating treats I had prepared for her and I did not feel the rush of my life.  This was the one thing I had to do 100% right.