The topic of this blog and the long absence since my last one (notwithstanding my still unresolved ranty-rant on customer experience) are much intertwined.  While Ford Prefect will have us believe that time is an illusion, it is still very much of the essence and of late I’ve found myself disillusioned with how little time I have. My difficulty is that I’m passionate about a lot of things and want to give them a part of myself by way of support; invariably this means my time, my energy and my resilience.

A quick stock-take of my commitments made for illuminating reading: I’m a husband, dad to two great kids, have two permanent jobs and own my own consultancy business. I’m a school governor, treasurer for a local branch of the RPS and I run the @WePharmacists Twitter account. I like to keep fit, see friends and have time be mindful. And ultimately I can only do so much before it impacts on the time I have to spend doing the things that matter most to me in life.

So while I’ve loved watching Little’un germinate a seed, plant it out and eat the resulting crop, the fact that she’s now more interested in Austin & Ally (don’t; just don’t) and Littlest is years away from understanding crop rotation and companion planting, I have handed back my allotment. I love the touch and smell of soil, wild flowers, the wildlife they attract and the technical challenge of growing but they demand time I no longer have – or at least want to give away.

My lesson has been that priorities change, life moves on and – despite allotments being harder to own than Sexy Fish key-rings – the only emotion I feel is relief at getting some balance back in my life.

I wonder now what I’ll give up the next time I take stock.