It's time to take stock

Life has a tendency of running away with us sometimes and before we know it years have vanished into our own personal history books. I don't know whether it's an age thing, but I have found myself taking stock more often as I get older.

I find myself thinking carefully about life, it's seasons, the value of family, career direction/development etc and I form a opinion about it, so as I can decide what's really important to me. When I hear stories of others and their situations, it makes me realise that yes, taking stock is a good thing. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet, so what we do with today really matters.

If you're reading this as a parent you'll have noticed already how quickly kids grow up and that time really is important. I remember a number of years ago when my youngest son was playing a game of rugby under floodlights in Belfast. I had said I would be there but was working in Dublin that day. Unfortunately, due to traffic I was delayed and only arrived as the game approached half time.

As I stood in the crowd I noticed my son looking up and down the line each time the ball went out of play. He was clearly trying to pick me out. It was near the end of the game before he eventually saw me and the smile on his face was one I remember vividly to this day.

Taking stock sometimes means asking honest questions of ourselves, otherwise we have a tendency to tolerate certain things and ignore others. Taking stock helps us reflect and enables us to see life from a wider perspective than the one we usually see in the busyness of our every day. We can also benefit from a passion check from time to time.

To find out what we are most passionate about we have to take a step back and observe ourselves. We have to look at the little things we do within our lives and recognise what makes us feel happy and fulfilled when we’re doing them.