Don't Let The Paper-clips Trip You

I am remembering an old letter in Dear Abby that told a sad story. A man wrote that he was dying of cancer and he was feeling a loss from the lost moments between his wife and him. She was so wrapped up in the cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the children that she failed to get involved in a genuine relationship with her family. She thought no one else could clean like she could and would not allow her husband to even change a diaper, or for him to hire household help to free her up to join the family on outings. He was writing his letter as an eye opener to others who might be making the same mistake. This makes me think of a time years ago when one of my boys was little and we were getting ready to have a birthday party for him. I was rushing around trying to get all the details taken care of when one of my old habits popped up. I was rushing through a parking lot and saw a paper-clip on the pavement. My inner Girl Scout/don't leave trash laying around self was getting ready to bend down and pick it up, when I literally stopped myself. I told myself I had a birthday to get to and didn't need to be worrying about saving used paper-clips on parking lot pavements and went on my way. From time to time we have to rethink our priorities and make sure we aren't cheating ourselves out of our real life.