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The Terrible Thing That Happened While I Wasn’t Looking

 

Guest articles > The Terrible Thing That Happened While I Wasn’t Looking

 

by: Lisa Earle McLeod

 

Nobody tells you it’s going to be like this.

The early days of the job are exciting. There are so many new things to see and learn, each day seems to last forever. Then somewhere in the middle, a routine sets in. The days are longer, but the years are shorter. Then suddenly, it’s over.

One day you’re a young upstart ready to make things happen. Then before you know it, you’re done.

I’m not talking about careers; I’m talking about parenting.

My oldest daughter is leaving for college next week, and I’m wondering how it’s possible that 18 years went by in the blink of an eye.

Perhaps you’ve experienced this yourself.

It’s that moment when you realize that the last two decades of your life weren’t some temporary quest to get you to a better spot. They were the actual years of your life passing you by, whether you were paying attention to them or not.

Don’t get me wrong; I couldn’t be more pleased with the way our baby girl turned out.

And for the most part, I’m happy with the way we spent our time together.

I just don’t want it to be over.

A lot of people complain about their kids, but I don’t. Parenting has been the most exciting, interesting adventure of my life. I can honestly say, I’ve been passionately in love with my two daughters since the day they were born, and there hasn’t been a moment I ever wished things were different.

When our oldest first came into my life at a time I wasn’t clear about who I was or my place in the world.

Over the course of our 18 years together, she turned me into a better person. She lifted me out of myself. She turned me into a dreamer and she turned me into a leader.

Now she’s going to college 1,200 miles away. Don’t get me wrong; I couldn’t be more excited for her. She’s a parent’s dream. She has a huge scholarship to a prestigious university, and I have every confidence that she’s fully prepared to step into this new phase.

So why do I feel like someone is ripping out my aorta?

Her sister is five years behind her and the thought of them both gone makes me feel like someone is putting a vacuum against my heart and sucking out my soul.

My own parents had four kids with a 12-year difference between the oldest (me) and the youngest (my sister) and I don’t recall anybody sobbing when I left home. I guess when you have a houseful of kids for 30 years, you’re probably more exhausted than depressed when they leave.

I remember when my Dad walked his last child, my sister, down the aisle. As he took her hand and placed it into her waiting husband’s he whooshed it down with the satisfied grin of a man sinking the winning basket. In the Final Four.

Later at the reception, he proclaimed, “All of my children are now debt-free, married college graduates!” I’ve never seen a man dance so enthusiastically.

I may get to the dancing stage at some point. But for now, I’m a bit of mess.

One minute, you’re living with one of the most exciting interesting people you’ve ever met. The next minute, you’re watching them pack up their stuff to leave.

It’s awful. It’s also totally worth it.

 


Business strategist Lisa Earle McLeod is President of McLeod & More, Inc. a consulting firm that specializes in sales force and leadership development. A sought after keynote speaker she is the author of The Triangle of Truth, a Washington Post Top 5 Business Book for Leaders. www.TriangleofTruth.com Copyright 2011 Lisa Earle McLeod. All rights reserved.


Contributor: Lisa Earle McLeod

Published here on: 02-Oct-11

Classification: Sales, Leadership

Website: www.TriangleofTruth.com

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Site Menu

| Home | Top | Quick Links | Settings |

Main sections: | Disciplines | Techniques | Principles | Explanations | Theories |

Other sections: | Blog! | Quotes | Guest articles | Analysis | Books | Help |

More pages: | Contact | Caveat | About | Students | Webmasters | Awards | Guestbook | Feedback | Sitemap | Changes |

Settings: | Computer layout | Mobile layout | Small font | Medium font | Large font | Translate |

 

 

Please help and share:

 

Quick links

Disciplines

* Argument
* Brand management
* Change Management
* Coaching
* Communication
* Counseling
* Game Design
* Human Resources
* Job-finding
* Leadership
* Marketing
* Politics
* Propaganda
* Rhetoric
* Negotiation
* Psychoanalysis
* Sales
* Sociology
* Storytelling
* Teaching
* Warfare
* Workplace design

Techniques

* Assertiveness
* Body language
* Change techniques
* Closing techniques
* Conversation
* Confidence tricks
* Conversion
* Creative techniques
* General techniques
* Happiness
* Hypnotism
* Interrogation
* Language
* Listening
* Negotiation tactics
* Objection handling
* Propaganda
* Problem-solving
* Public speaking
* Questioning
* Using repetition
* Resisting persuasion
* Self-development
* Sequential requests
* Storytelling
* Stress Management
* Tipping
* Using humor
* Willpower

Principles

+ Principles

Explanations

* Behaviors
* Beliefs
* Brain stuff
* Conditioning
* Coping Mechanisms
* Critical Theory
* Culture
* Decisions
* Emotions
* Evolution
* Gender
* Games
* Groups
* Habit
* Identity
* Learning
* Meaning
* Memory
* Motivation
* Models
* Needs
* Personality
* Power
* Preferences
* Research
* Relationships
* SIFT Model
* Social Research
* Stress
* Trust
* Values

Theories

* Alphabetic list
* Theory types

And

About
Guest Articles
Blog!
Books
Changes
Contact
Guestbook
Quotes
Students
Webmasters

 

| Home | Top | Menu | Quick Links |

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