The Dynamic That Won’t Last Forever

This week I was reminded of something simple but powerful: the dynamic we share with the people in our lives doesn’t last forever. By dynamic, I mean the living connection, the flow of relationship and energy, between myself and the people around me. It shifts, it changes, and eventually it evolves into a new stage. That realization made me stop and rethink what truly deserves to be a priority.

This week, my calendar was overflowing with back to back meetings, all important and all valuable. But in the middle of it, I realized my daughter is heading back to school in a couple of days, and our dynamic is about to change again. Right now, she still wants to hang out, laugh, and spend time with me. That won’t always be the case as she grows older and becomes more independent.

I’ve watched friends recently send their kids off to college, and I can see in their eyes how much they miss that earlier dynamic. They all tell me the same thing: it goes by in a blink. And once that stage is gone, it doesn’t come back.

At first, I tried to convince myself I could balance it all, squeeze in meetings while also being fully present with my daughter. But I knew that wouldn’t work. The truth is, business opportunities, projects, and meetings will always be there. They are infinite. The dynamic between my daughter and me at this exact age and stage, however, is finite. I think back to when she was a toddler and how quickly that stage passed. Remembering that gave me clarity.

So I cleared my schedule, took a couple of days off, and we went to a water park with her friends. Those moments reminded me that the dynamic we share in this season of life is a priority and once it’s gone, I can’t reschedule or reclaim it.

So here’s my reminder to all of us: when you’re deciding between what’s important and what should be the priority, pay attention to the dynamic in front of you. Ask yourself if it is an infinite dynamic or if it's a finite dynamic. More often than not, the answer will be clear.