Of late, I’ve felt bogged down by stress and tension NOT
of my own making. Being who I am, I’ve
been searching for the origin of this phenomenon to see if there are some
things I can cut out to lighten my load.
And, guess what? I stumbled
across a secret event I affectionately call “the committee of complication,”
here forth to be called the CCC.
I’m not sure how one gets elected or appointed to this
committee but I’m here to tell you it really exists! Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that some
of the members have no idea they’ve become a major part of the problem. I feel confident they believe they’re acting
in good faith and are really applying the skills of due diligence. Also, please know, I don’t just reveal this
phenomenon to cover up any frustration for not getting my own way (you’d be
surprised at just how peace loving I’ve become in my older age).
R-E-A-L-L-Y N-O-W! These
folks just out messing up stuff! Then
I’m inconvenienced in trying to figure out how to set it right again!
Listen, I know you think I’m just on one of my soap box
topics but I’m here to tell you that the total mission of the committee is to
derail the real work that needs to be done - especially if it’s getting done. I mean the committee invokes it’s power in
such a way that it increases the weight of the work by 25-35% and during really
high stress times – can even double or triple the workload!
So I was sitting with myself and thinking to myself,
“self – we got to figure this out and get out of this raggedy dance!” So, I did what I do and started trying to
figure out the best way to bow out of the “C-R-A-Z-Y.”
I determined that I needed to research the problem and
began skimming lots of free F-I-R-E books on the topic of leadership and
working with difficult people. I,
typically, maintain good boundaries. As
the books recommended, I shored up my boundaries, tried to keep my feedback
clear and concise and followed lots of things up in writing.
I attempted to remain transparent with my peers and
worked hard to provide them some cover from some of the top down flow of what I
affectionately refer to as C-R-A-P-O-L-A. And for a while – it worked….until it didn’t.
So, I tightened my boundaries and reviewed my stress
management skill set. I started clearing
my mind and starring off into space; humming and singing little songs to ease
my mind and calm my spirit coupled with cleansing breaths with arm motions to
stretch and clear all stress from my system, and smoking imaginary cigarettes –
it worked…
What I’m about to share with you will utterly amaze and
impress you and maybe even help you with your stress situations. Now, I’m in the room with C-R-A-Z-Y,
feeling trapped and held hostage. It still
remains clear in my mind the very moment when I suddenly remembered all of my FANTASTIC stress management skills and
decided to activate them while being whipped around by the tail of storm C-R-A-Z-Y.
It was precisely at the 47 minute mark of what was
supposed to be a 30 minute meeting – when I suddenly dropped into my cleared
mind – space starring pose. I only came
back to myself after having my name called several times.
The torture continued and it was precisely at
the 120 minute mark of the - what was supposed to be that same 30 minute
meeting – when I suddenly erupted in song!
Of course I could only remember two or three words of some obscure
song…. but it worked for me… until it didn’t
It was at the 180 minute mark of the - what was supposed
to be that same 30 minute meeting – when I suddenly noticed that my coping
skills weren’t working and I actually began to hear the words that were being
said and got angry. I just couldn’t go
along to get along anymore and contributed my 3 cents worth and began smoking a
imaginary cigarette to calm my nerves.
Of course, as the CCC was in full swing; my input was
quickly ejected and I began to see my life pass before my eyes in the never
ending meeting! But I was successful in
not blowing my stack and quickly reverted back to the last skill I had in my
tool bag.
Between you and me, I’ve never tried yoga but at this
point in my nightmare – I was willing to try anything so…. I did some cleansing breaths along with
stretching my arms above my head and then out to my sides. I repeated this four times. I looked around and nothing in the room had
changed.
Let’s face, I was in the room trying to
mitigate the impact of C-R-A-Z-Y and was the only one in the room looking like
a monkey-ass fool!
WTHIRGO????
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| My infamous cleared mind blank stare look! |
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| My infamous song bird look! |
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| My infamous angry look! |
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| My infamous imaginary smoke blowing look! |
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| My infamous cleansing yoga look! |
