Merric Reese

Which of your hats have been gathering too much dust lately?

The last few weeks at work have been extremely hectic, lots of late nights / early mornings, project planning and re-planning, bubble diagrams, gantt charts and technical strategy along with the many other daily distractions that make life in Information Technology very interesting to say the least.

Finally, I’m sitting here at 11:00pm waiting to verify some new changes in production after midnight and I’ve finally found time to sit down, open Google Reader and start to catch up on the multitude of blogs and alerts I’ve been neglecting lately.

I came across this one post that really resonated with me.

• RIP Dr Seuss (Mark Cohen) – It’s not just about missing out on finishing your book – it’s also about making the most of the time you have.

That got me thinking about what I have been doing lately, how caught up in work I’ve been and then I remembered.

A wise mentor once told me that each day we all wear many hats – manager, employee, mentor, supplier, customer, educator, student, husband, father, son, and many, many more – some hats will always demand to be worn more often than others, some hats we don’t want to wear, and some hats we should wear more often than we do.

I still remember my mentors words of wisdom to this very day – “No matter how many hats you have, don’t let any of them be too demanding or gather too much dust – and pay special attention to the ones related to family”.

Time for me to dust off some of my less worn hats – how about you?

In each of our lives there are things we need to do every day, things  we are required to do.  It’s part of or lives, our jobs and who we are.  It may keep the world turning, but doesn’t make it a better place.

Christmas is a time – in fact the best time – to challenge all of that – to take the opportunity to do one of the simplest things we can to make a difference… share.

Sharing is in our nature and it feels good to share.  We enjoy a meal more when it is shared with others, an experience is more fulfilling when shared with others and we feel most fulfilled when sharing with others…

So far this post has written itself, I’ve really not had to think to much about it… the next part is more about what’s next, and to be honest – I don’t think I’m able to write that part on my own… it’s up to each of us to determine how we can best share.

I’ve put it out there – Christmas is about sharing, sharing with others and the joy of sharing.

How will you take the opportunity to share this Christmas?