Guilt Free

I had always thought that I got the meaning of work life balance and executed it very well.  How wrong was I?!

Until Wednesday this week I think I was kidding myself that I had my work life balance to a tea.  My little Freddie got poorly needing to be taken to hospital where he stayed overnight with a feeding tube.  It was one of the most devastating moments of my life, feeling fear, hope and despair all in one.  Nothing mattered but my little Freddie and the hope that he would get well super quick.

I am still on maternity leave at the moment, but as part of my keep in touch days I am organising a conference for 800 people with Gabs one of the other PA's.  I was due to be in the office to meet with the conference agency to talk operational stuff.  Time is of the essence on this project.

But something stranger happened.  My brain went into prioritisation mode.  It automatically knew what to do.  I knew my priority was my Freddie.  I knew I had to stay with him no matter what.  I felt no guilt.

In the past I had often felt guilt when faced with these work life situations.  I am very proud of the work that I do and take the profession of a PA seriously.  The service I deliver to my Director needs to be second to none, with him having everything he needs to ensure his time runs smoothly. I remember being in an awful quandary one day over the management meeting - I couldn't attend as Harry had chicken pox. I couldn't go into the office. But what would Mr B think? He would feel let down? He would feel unsupported?  With Harry cuddled on the couch I dialled into the management meeting - oh but the guilt.

No guilt this week though. It didn't mean I didn't care about my role.  It didn't mean I didn't want to succeed in the project, it didn't meant I wanted to let my colleague down, it didn't mean I couldn't be bothered.  It meant for that moment in time my family came first.  And you know what - nothing bad happened, we are still on track and my colleagues understood and supported me - that's it - no guilt.  

So you may say - what's the point to this story.  Simple - don't feel guilty for putting family first.  Being a PA we are inherently concerned for our Director's. We aim to please. We aim to achieve and over deliver and we are passionate and serious about our roles but we can still do this and ensure our family comes first - always - we just need to believe it.