When I was in fifth grade I woke one morning to discover I was sick. But that day at school there was a team project in which I was scheduled to participate.

My mother sent me back to bed but I cried - "they NEED me."

And my mother said the most hurtful words a person ever hears and they have stuck with me to this day:

"The world will revolve without you."

Who wants to hear that?

And yet I was reminded again today.

I found myself double booked this month - at the same time I was scheduled to give a speech I was also facilitating a luncheon meeting.

I emailed the person in charge of the program in which I was the speaker to verify the time and make sure it was still on and explained my double booking. In the meantime I began to look for someone to take over my facilitating role.

No worries.

I just got an email that they put a new speaker in place.

Oh.

Okay.

Guess I can be replaced.

Now I have to figure out how to let go and move on.

Have you found yourself in the same circumstance? You think you have made yourself indispensable in your role, your department, your charity, your company and yet...

You don an "owner mentality" in all that you do - acting and believing that although the name over the door is not yours - it could be.

And then you learn that the world continues without your effort, your 60 hour work weeks, your dedication, your special value.

But I'm here to tell you - IT DOESN'T CONTINUE REVOLVING IN QUITE THE SAME WAY.

No matter how we are made to feel - we still need to be in IT (whatever "it" is) with our whole mind and spirit and body for the moment. We need to be able to look in the mirror and know that we gave it our all.

Because, although we might be replaced, we aren't forgotten and our efforts - while we were able to contribute - add value, make a difference and help the world to be a better place.

And with my fifth grade hat on, I say "put that in your pipe and smoke it."

Deborah Chaddock Brown
Professional Writer, Occasional Whiner and Website SEO specialist
www.allwriteink.com