• In the failing light of dusk, I sit at my worn-out desk, my to-do list overflowing with the remnants of another exhausting day.  My fingers tap wearily against the keyboard as I craft yet another email response to a client, explaining the intricacies of canine behavior training.  Each keystroke feels like a pointless endeavor, a drop in the ocean of words blurring together in a never-ending stream of explanations, reassurances, and reiterations.
   

• The minutes turn to hours and the weight of the day begins to suffocate.  The originally soft murmur of the dogs requiring attention has changed from a gentle reminder to a barking loud demand for attention.  But, I find myself ensnared in the relentless tide of client demands.
   

• With every email sent, the list of tasks yet to be done seems to grow larger in my mind. The dogs needing training, my family desires for my presence, I haven’t gone grocery shopping in about 2 weeks – it all clamors for my attention.
   

• As I break from my tapping yielding to the dogs demands, the thought on the back of my mind is always the same: Am going to have some grumpy clients tomorrow?
  "Where was that email?"
  "I was waiting on more instructions?"
  or the worst "If you can’t do something as simple as reply to an email, what make you think you can help me with my dog?"
  In reality that last one has never happened, but the mind will create disasters where none exist right?
   

• I am less loving towards my wife, kids, and dogs.  There's a palpable tension in the air, a feeling of being stretched thin, pulled in a dozen different directions at once.  And amidst it all, the unanswered emails pile up like a mountain of unfinished business, each one a reminder of the time slipping through my fingers.

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