The tyranny of the urgent

A reprint of my Aug. 7 SlapShots column.

Sometimes the tyranny of the urgent can keep us from focusing on what’s important.

For that reason, I think it’s healthy to get away from our day-to-day routine from time to time. Every once in a while, we need to just step away and refocus.

I spent the last week in West Virginia and Florida with my wife and kids. We hiked mountain trails, basked in the sun on the beach and saw some pretty cool historic sites. But the best part was the uninterrupted time with the kids, quiet moments with my wife and an opportunity to visit with family we don’t often get to spend a lot of time with.

For an entire week, I was totally disconnected from the world of sports. I didn’t watch any games, didn’t surf the Internet and scarcely glanced at a newspaper. About the closest I came to athletic competition was a pretty intense battle between the kids and grownups in the license plate game (More on that in a moment.) Oh – and there was a pretty good round of Frisbee with my son … and some boogie boarding in the surf. But I digress.

While I was gone, the Yellow Jackets hired an interim men’s basketball coach and the Woodford County High School worked out an agreement to keep Walker Terhune as its athletic trainer. While I was sitting on the beach last Wednesday, the Woodford Sun went to press, just as it always does.

It all went along just fine – without me.

I will admit, there is something slightly disconcerting in knowing I am not indispensable. But also something very liberating. Sometimes I get too wrapped up in my routine and forget the truly important things. Sometimes the outcome of a game seems so all-important, but in reality, it means nothing in the big scheme of things. Sometimes I get all wrapped up and stressed out about things that just don’t really matter all that much.

This last week was a reminder to keep my focus on the important. Family, friends and moments spent gazing at the wonder of the world add far more value to my life than many of the things that eat up hours like my daughter’s hungry algae eater on the side of the aquarium.

This doesn’t mean that we don’t do our jobs. Sometimes we simply can’t ignore the urgent. It is urgent, after all. But I do think it’s a good idea to recognize that we aren’t indispensable. It’s healthy to know that if we pause for a moment to tend to the important, the world won’t stop spinning. It’s a good thing to just stop and let things go.

It’s okay – try it.

Now about that license plate game…

I will freely admit my extreme competitive nature. My wife shares this personality defect – or strength, depending on how one looks at things. If there existed any doubt that we are both out of control, it vanished somewhere between Jacksonville and St. Augustine.

The license plate game is a great way to pass time on long car rides. It’s a simple game. Try to find license plates from all 50 states throughout the course of the trip. We decided to spice things up a bit and play adults against kids. I must admit; the kids did pretty well. They were keeping pace with us and it was looking like the game could end in a tie. We had a couple of states they didn’t, but they had a couple on us as well.

My wife and I were sweating it a bit until we found our opportunity to grab an almost insurmountable advantage. On our way down to St. Augustine, a van with Alaska plates passed us. I nudged my wife. She saw it too. A wicked grin. The kids were in the back; all three absorbed in the Nintendo DS.

Advantage – grownups.

While basking in our near certain victory, we decided to pull off and grab some lunch. Subway was sounding like a good, healthy option. But as I pulled into the parking lot, I saw the Alaska van sitting right in front of the door. No way to get in without the kids seeing the plate.

Advantage – lost.

Suddenly the Waffle House across the way was looking pretty good. I’d been craving a waffle all trip. And besides, who eats healthy on vacation?

So I did a quick turn out of the Subway lot, explaining my sudden need for breakfast. The kids were fine with that.

Advantage – grownups.

Quick Shots

I know you are dying to know who won. Grownups, of course. We lacked only four states: North Dakota, Wyoming, Vermont and Hawaii. The kids had none of those and also missed South Dakota, New Hampshire and Alaska, of course.

The more I watch NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, the more I become a Jimmy Johnson fan. His crew chief, Chad Knaus, has as much to do with my growing respect, as Johnson’s driving – and he’s no slouch behind the wheel. I love the fact that the team never gives up. In the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500, Johnson was running strong when he started to experience engine trouble. Several pit stops later, the crew found the problem, a bad sparkplug. By the time the team got the number 48 running right, it was three laps down. But Johnson patiently kept at it, taking advantage of cautions to work his way back to the lead lap, then blew through the back of the field to salvage a 12th place finish.

Kudos to Woodford County Schools for stepping up and getting the job done, keeping an athletic trainer at WCHS. It was good to see everybody involved focus on student safety. It says a lot for the priorities of all of the school officials involved.

Quote of the Week

“We’ve come close in a lot of races this year and come up short. But definitely had some angels with us today.” – An emotional Denny Hamlin after winning the Pennsylvania 500. Hamlin’s grandmother died earlier in the week.

Puck to the Head

I’m going to step out of the sports world to shoot this week’s puck at the heads of slow drivers in the left hand lane.