The missed shot...photographer or participant?

There is no photograph for this entry. That is because I missed the shot I wanted. We were at church and a spontaneous event happened when the worship leader had the entire church gather around our senior pastor and pray for him. Our senior pastor, Pastor John, was fighting off a sore throat and possible laryngitis. Unfortunately, Pastor John was also scheduled to speak for three days at a Ministry Leadership Conference for the next three days, and laryngitis would make this especially difficult. As we were all gathering around Pastor John it dawned on me how unusual an even this was, and I thought this would make a wonderful photograph (or at least it had the potential for one). However, I also realized that meant I had to shift very quickly from being a participant in the service, and more specifically, this opportunity to minister to the man who so regularly ministers to me, and roll into photographer mode. Decisions...decisions.
In the end I decided to stay and participate. I would have made a horrible photojournalist. I don't transition quickly enough between participating in and event and photographing it. In fact, I find I need to psyche myself up for most of my photoshoots. Conversely, if I go to an event as a photographer I participate very little and am constantly scanning for good shots. I am very compartmental this way.
So, is this just the way photography works? Are most photographer's this way? Or, are there those that can flow quickly between both modes without even thinking about it? Does this just come with experience? This is more of a curiosity to me than anything else. I am sorry I missed the shot I wanted, but it was a fair exchange for the opportunity to pray for Pastor John in his hour of need.