Ropella

Life Is Short - So Slow Down

Author: Robbie Ropella  Posted 3 months, 2 weeks, 5 days, 18 hours, 12 minutes ago.  

Robbie shares her thoughts…
Pat and I just recently headed out to the ACI, which is our favorite conference of the year. As it is only a six hour drive, we decided to forgo flying and drive on over to Orlando. We made excellent time and had just commented on how easy the drive was…when out of nowhere, traffic came to a standstill. I had never seen traffic this bad, and in over an hour and a half we only made it approximately one or two miles down the road. Pat whipped out his trusted iPhone and quickly found out that a horrible accident had occurred there earlier in the day. 10 people had lost their lives and 18 were in the hospital due to fog and smoke covering that very highway.

Pat had me get off the interstate at the next exit and try a different route, which he had navigated with his iPhone map. Unfortunately, we were not the only ones with this new plan, Pat’s route took us right over to where the brush fire was and the traffic was pretty much the same there. The traffic cleared up an hour and 45 minutes later and let me tell you, at that point, driving 55 miles an hour seemed like you were flying.

We were happy to arrive that night at our hotel, and after watching the news, we were quite thankful that we had chosen to drive out on Sunday morning as opposed to Saturday evening, which we had considered.  What was a huge inconvenience for those caught in traffic was a lasting tragedy for others and my heart goes out to all who lost loved ones that day. This experience did impact both Pat and me considerably. While we may get so busy rushing here to there to check off our boxes and grow more business, we need to focus on what really counts in life. 

That evening, though we were both stressed and tired, we went out on a date for sushi.  We didn’t discuss work, but just enjoyed each other’s company and realized life is short.  Sushi never tasted so good and Pat’s laughter was even better.

Pat responds…
Yes, this experience was very thought-provoking and teaches us about the need for perspective. Had we left earlier, we could have been caught in this accident. All the planning and work we do means nothing when we or our loved ones go through a tragedy like this. I am always pushing to accomplish more in less time with more people and resources. Robbie wants to slow down and connect more with those we meet along the way. She’s probably right – I needed this perspective to get me to slow down and smell the roses.

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