Priorities

So today I was reminded that my company was sponsoring a blood drive at work. I'd seen the signs earlier this week but for some strange reason I hadn't committed in my mind or on paper whether I'd donate or not. But then my friend and coworker Todd comes up and asks if I'm going to donate. I can't tell him no. More on that to come.

Let me back up for a second to say that the original plan this weekend was that my wife was going to take my son and visit her mom. This is because this Thursday and Friday was UEA. Something about education so the schools in Utah were closed. With this in mind, I started to think about what crazy adventure I would have tomorrow morning. I figured with my wife out of town there would be no one at home to feel neglected while I played in the mountains for hours. I was going to get to stay out as long as I want.


Well, all that went out the window when my wife (being so nice) couldn't say no to a request for her to play piano for a funeral today. So that meant she wasn't going to see her mom (boo for her) and I probably couldn't go for an epic solo adventure in the mountains. Crap!

So with all of that in mind, and the fact that my knee had given me trouble earlier this week, I decided I'd donate.

Todd's Daughter Spencer

Now to follow up on why I couldn't say no to Todd. Todd and his wife lost a daughter to cancer several years ago. But they were able to have an extra 6 months with her because of transfusions she was able to received. Because of that, they had become big on donating blood and have been registered as marrow donors to help pass that gift on. So obviously I couldn't tell him no. I felt like to say no to him would be like saying no to his daughter. Not every blood donation saves a life. But the ones we don't give, have no chance of helping anyone out. I decided that the chance to help someone was more important than some discomfort I would experience and the reduced energy I'd have for tomorrow. If you are interested in donating, check out the Red Cross website.

The donation: Everything was going smoothly until the girl went to insert the needle. I have a very obvious vein in my left arm that I have been using for this for years. I requested to use it again. But then as she went to poke me she asked another guy for help. Apparently she missed my vein and when he went to correct it he came out to far and they had to scrap that arm. (apparently they don't stick you in the same arm multiple times.) They gave me the option of calling it a day or trying the other arm. I went with the other arm. I didn't get my finger pricked for fun. Luckily, the right arm did fine and 5 minutes 5 seconds later I was done.

This has got me thinking about my priorities and where they should be. I heard it said before that people are always more important than tasks to be completed. I hope I can remember that as I have to make decisions. I remembered the reason I decided to run first thing in the morning was to avoid neglecting time with my family. Unfortunately, sometimes I find myself wanting to just sit and veg after a day at work. That said, I really do enjoy doing things with my wife and son. Tonight I took my son to the park and we played hide and seek in the dark. Yesterday we played hide and seek at home and went for a walk. I try to be a good dad and husband but the honest truth is that sometimes I'm not.

I think I will be pondering for a while what to me is more important for me than running. I do consider running to be one of the things that defines who I am but it is not the only thing. So what about you? I'm curious, what is more important than running to you?

Edit: I thought I was done with this. Then I just got a call to help do some yard work for a neighbor tomorrow. I guess that is the problem with thinking of others. Sometimes you gotta do something. There are some things that you can arrange around running but for other priorities you have to rearrange your running around them.