This may have been the most (um) interesting work week I've had to date... Following last week's fab five-day break, I returned to the office Monday to find a funding source decided to push a statewide deadline up significantly (meaning the grant I thought was due in late August is now due week after next--yikes!). Add to that: the State began conducting their annual audit of our programs this past week, the Federal folks are coming to do a full program review next week, a secondary deadline was bumped up due to the first one I already mentioned... Oh and did I tell you I'm going to be short staffed for the next month (Yes, this, too, I also learned on Monday.)?
This week, amidst problem solving, juggling a whole host of figurative plates in the air and racing to beat the clock, I found myself tapping into an old strategy I learned. It's one that enables me to gain the right perspective on things. What I know is that the right frame of mind makes all the difference in how things "go down." My strategy is as simple as this: I tell myself, "It's really not that bad. Nobody's seriously injured or gravely ill. No one's died. And (tongue in cheek), there's not anyone being sent to jail."
It's the exact same thing a professional colleague told me about 14 years ago, one afternoon, when I was on the verge of a complete "melt down" over what I now realize was merely a trivial annoyance. Back in 2006, I wrote a book, Eternal Presents: Accepting and Using the Precious, Intangible Gifts Others Give Us. Chapter 5 of my book is dedicated to that afternoon and the wonderful lesson I learned as a result of it. The gift of sound perspective is undoubtedly a present I'm still "unwrapping" and using a number of years later (smile).
Today... Well, it's Saturday. I'm about to head downtown with Mark for our standing breakfast date. Afterwards, we are en route to Michigan for a day trip to Lake Huron. Monday, I know it's back to reality. This weekend, though, the past week's craziness has been stashed squarely away (which is exactly where it belongs!).
Joy, hugs and peace. T.
