Tuesday 6 December 2011

Eating the elephent

It took me an hour and a quarter to get to work (about 16 miles) and an hour and half to get home. In between I was abused verbally, as were my staff, run off my feet, and finally got my lunch break when I got home towards seven pm.

Sounds pants doesn't it! It was really! Some days are just like that, and the tendency can be to just focus on all the things that went wrong that day, rather than trying to find something positive.

I am finding tonight's blog difficult to write as my mind is such a blur, and I am physically and emotionally exhausted. Some days are definitely uphill, and it seems a hard task to climb to the top of the heap and find the needle in the dung heap, never mind the haystack!

If you are looking for the needle maybe you are looking for the wrong thing. Someone I used to work with had a good saying: "When you are up against an elephant all you can see is grey". It is really true! If you step back a bit you can make out the hairs, the toenails, the legs, the tail, then suddenly you can see the whole picture!

If I step back from my day I can see the positives, I see the systems in place work, I see what I can do to fine tune the situation further, and I can see that on balance we did a good job. I see that after being brave enough to say "I have had a crappy day, I need some time on my own", then giving myself time to unwind, to relax, to step back and see the rainbow I know I will be, and am OK.

So your homework for today: work out what your elephant is: house/home/relationship/diet/work etc. Step back from it, allow yourself to relax and unwind, then come back to the elephant, step back, and look at the bigger picture. That elephant holds part of the solution, as well as the problem. Walk with your head up, keep your chin up, otherwise you will never see the rainbows x

1 comment:

  1. I love your attitude Clarice - there is a pony in there somewhere!

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