Brilliant writing is when the author’s pulse dictates your own. The frantic pace of Ashley Butler’s morning made my heart race, only to have it sink when her husband’s posture changed and he walked away. In that moment, I realized - "I am her."

I’ve been the culprit in this story for many years. Back when my wife and I were both in similar corporate leadership roles, our "This is important" contract suited us. it slowly became a reflex that the other would obviously understand when we’re busy! But as our lives have shifted and we’ve grown older, there is a new expectation and agreement we made: that when being spoken to, the other would leave the phone or laptop and pay attention.

Yet, I still find myself slipping back into that old reflex. I go so deep in the "zone" that I snap when the silence is broken.

This is a good reminder that "waiting time" has a limit. Thank you for the wake-up call to stop relying on old reflexes and expecting others to understand why we keep breaking the very promises we made to them.