Which reminds me of a really stress filled time at work several years ago. When we got our new Windows based computer system half the staff had limited computer experience. And our whole schtick was to go completely paperless. Let me give a hearty laugh right now. Har. Har. Har. Paperless DID NOT happen. However, stress bloomed like those super growing trees that promise ten feet of growth per year. Part of the problem was the OOPS factor, our DOS based data didn't carry over as promised. So everything had to be re-keyed into the new system. That was just one of the issues. The stress and tension was so big I thought we might lose a few staff people. (No, not death, quitting, but there were times death might have been welcomed.) Anyhoo, we somehow survived that trial intact. We each kind of found a niche and learned it and then trained others who needed to know it. We still occasionally have a serendipitous moment when we stumble onto some sneaky and helpful shortcut. Long way of saying, stress and negativity definitely was the color of the day, week, month.
Oddly, a few months later I began breaking molars. After the second one cracked and needed to be repaired I realized that during the tension of that couple of months my whole face hurt. I had been clenching my teeth, probably even as I slept, and I weakened teeth that had been repaired when I was younger. The weak areas were vulnerable to my stress. I became so aware of that little bad habit that to this day I feel my stress in my face. When my face feels tense I eventually check my stress level and work on some ways to decrease that tension.
The office has been quiet the past two days in spite of experiencing, with our entire city, a boil alert. We had a huge sewer implosion and it had the potential of contaminating our entire water supply. So we were unable to drink or cook with water unless it had been boiled for at least a minute. Each of us brought in our own water, a drug rep brought in water. Washing hands was a conundrum. Wash our hands with soap and contaminated water, then follow with hand sanitizer, or skip the contaminated water altogether? But we survived with minimal complaining.
And a co-worker, who reads my blog periodically, reported that she was going to look at a negative as a positive. Instead of complaining that we have to park far away from our office (with the ready reminder of the security guard parked at the mouth of the parking garage where we are not supposed to park) she was going to restate the trek as an opportunity for extra exercise. Especially since she usually packs a Bible, a Bible study book and several bottles of water as well as her lunch. Ha. Ha. Way to go. Get that cardio on, Baby.
Have a happy, uplifting, positive weekend. What activities do you have planned and how can you frame them so that you can see the good bits and minimize the not so good ones?
