Thursday, August 16, 2007

An update, and a pledge ...

Yeah, my posts have been meaningless fluff/drivel for a while.

I miss having the time and focus to make this blog what I originally wanted. I haven't taken the time lately to form my opinions well enough to warrant spewing them out to the unsuspecting public. So, I've kept to myself. And submerged myself in the somewhat surreal world that is my work life.

Quick updates on that:

* Still haven't hired anyone to replace my retiring team member. I came to three candidates I wanted to interview; one declined, one no-showed, the one I interviewed I'm on the fence about. One more candidate to interview ... but we're looking to agencies now. The next month is promising to be hellish.

* I'm planning a "Come To Jesus" meeting with the other team members. Seriously ... a team of five people (plus me), and they are E-MAILING me about "so-and-so did this", "so-and-so said that", "why isn't so-and-so doing yadda yadda yadda ... ". If I had WANTED to be a high school teacher, I would have finished that education major instead of running screaming away from it.

* I have to consciously make myself lower my shoulders. They're up near my ears these days. I think there's a little stress/muscle tension occurring.

On the other hand, I do still love the Big Picture of my job. I just need to wade through a lot to GET to that Big Picture. And I don't own hip boots.


So, the pledge: I WILL post an actual intelligent, thoughtful post ... hopefully this weekend. I miss writing them, actually. I need to find some more balance in my life. I recently bought a bracelet through Human Rights Campaign, and I love it ... it tells me to just "Be". Simple, eh? The way I like it:



How do y'all handle stress when it overwhelms you?

10 comments:

Scooter said...

How do I deal with stress...by being with the man I love and the things we share, our kids, our yard, our laughter, our silence, and our dreams.
...and a little wine helps, too.

Paul said...

Well, I don't light candles, pour a glass of wine nor soak in the tub ... Matt, what type of questions is that? Don't you KNOW what I usually do?

Scott in Iowa said...

I like Scott's method... although, I don't really know what Paul's method is...maybe I'll like his better ;-)

john said...

Great bracelet!

Anonymous said...

I handle stress by drinking too much coffee and not sleeping and after I say to myself "Cut the crap woman" I lay in bed and read and escape.

Cheers Scott, that is a great bracelet!

Anonymous said...

Sigh I MEAN CHEERS MATT. I was readding from two scotts in you comments LOL> I am sorry!

Unknown said...

I love that bracelet - so simple and oignant. Great find.

Have you ever meditated? I know it sounds all 70's earth mother but it does wonders for stress management.

Ommmmm.

Matt said...

Claudia - no worries. I know you adore us both. :)

Haikugirl - actually, I haven't. But I'm all up for it. I've done breathing exercises, tai chi, and I'll go for meditating next. And then yoga.

Anonymous said...

LOL! Stress? What's stress? Besides diving into chocolate (I know you take better care of yourself than I take care of me), I get out in nature, be by myself, or immerse myself in music. I'm sorry that you are having so much stress. You don't need to be running a kindergarden, you need to be managing people who were hired to do their portion of the "big picture." But I think Scooter has some good ideas, too! ;-) I wish I had a good management book to recommend, but I'm at a loss! All I can give you is some lovin', cuz ((((hugs)))).

Sukhaloka said...

Stress is always there. I say take a deep breath, meditate for five minutes, then lie down with your eyes shut and tackle the issues at hand one by one. If you're the writing kind, write them down. And chalk out a rough plan methodically. Details can be added as time permits. If you can't tackle something, STOP worrying about it. Just do what you can, and know that there's an invisible force in nature coordinating things for the best.