A long week...

I knew it would be a long week when on Monday night around 10 pm, I took George! out into the balmy evening for a last pee break of the day.

I ran into another neighbor enjoying the quiet evening with their little dog 'Frodo'.  We talked about the beauty of the evening and I stopped myself short of saying, thank goodness it's Friday!  I took a deep breath and looked around and knew it was going to be a long week.

Up late working or not working but guiltily thinking about the work I need to accomplish - mindlessly hitting the snooze button.  Today it's finally Friday.  One step in front of the other.  Will try to keep my mind on service to others.  That's my mantra when I teeter on the edge of frustration.  What will make this situation, conversation better?

It served me well on Monday when we rolled out a new application to our sales force.  I can't tell you how many people loved it, how many people were confused about it, and the one person who spent 15 minutes telling me she hated it.  Hated the whole thing, couldn't figure it out, couldn't do anything.  I could feel myself withdrawing because she couldn't be specific about what she was trying to do or not do - I had a vision of me being swallowed into a deep hole.

So I asked her what are you trying to do right now, what is most important for you to accomplish right now,  in the back of my mind, how can I be of service.

Eventually she said she'd figure it out, her click paths were right on, she knew how to navigate through the application, she was just venting because change is difficult for some people, her I think more than most.

Whether I was helpful or not - doesn't matter, I was able to keep an even keel in the midst of verbal barrages of words which, when you aren't sucked in emotionally, you realize they don't make much sense.

I have at times, been on the giving side as well.  When your emotions are running so close to the surface it ripples your ability to string words together, unfortunately the point that is most important is lost in the swirl and you are left frustrated because whenever you open your mouth to get the words out, they trip and spill all over your audience...

But today is Friday.  I am close, very close to my me time.  When I can babble incoherently as long as I want and George! and Simba will better there to listen or not listen as they choose.