Once a worker bee, always a worker bee?

I raised my three children alone. I have no family, and my ex declined to be responsible for his children. Although it wasn't easy, with my children as part of the working family, we made it.

No one had everything they wanted, but they did have everything they needed. Braces, clothes, school trips, etc. My youngest often begged me when she was in primary school to be one of the chaperons for field trips, but as I was the sole bread winner for the family, I just couldn't take an entire day off.

Do I regret that? A bit. But because I was both parents rolled into one, I had to make decisions that from time to time, none of us liked.

I was the worker bee. It has been all I have ever known. I would get up, take the kids to school, go to work, make dinner, supervise homework and showers, go to bed; rinse and repeat.

It was a habit, and habits once formed are comfortable even if they aren't always for the best.

After my children left home I was at loose ends. Then in 2009 I lost my house, got injured and had to sell my business. My life took a nosedive for a long time.

But I still have the worker bee tendencies.

Right now I have a part-time job, work on my website and I am planning my next series of work. Everything was okay. I was in the worker bee zone.

And then I got a call from a gallery that I have shown in before, and they asked if I could be their featured artist for the month of August. The artist they had lined up had to pull out and they needed a replacement.

I haven't produced any new work for almost a year (blog for another time). However, I still have about ten pieces in storage so I agreed.

Now the gallery is a six-hour drive from where I live, however my son and his girlfriend live very close and they invited me to stay with them until after the opening.

My worker bee was the first voice to be heard. Can't miss work.

What?

While what I do Is essential, it is still a part-time job with crummy pay.

But I sat back and pondered for a bit. Yeah my tiny job helps, but it will never be more, nor would I want it to be, than it is right now. I had a health scare earlier this year and factored that in as well.

So...what I decided to do is to go, enjoy myself and my children. The other two children and their partners are coming to the opening and we will have a bit of a mini family reunion. For a weekend.

Life is so short. When money is the first thing you think about it hampers the ability to do what is right and many times satisfying.

While I greatly admire the bee, and have a great work ethic myself, there are times when it is the right thing to do to take a breath, be in the moment, and enjoy the world around you.