What a great beginning of a new week and a new month -- sunny, warm, and blue sky. It was a great gift for the first of November. I spent a lot of time out in the warmer air as I juggled a number of meetings today. When I started the car, though, I got a message noting the battery in the key fob was weak. <sigh> I called my dealership and they said it was a quick change out at their end, so after my first appointment, I headed there. Luckily, the cost was covered by the warranty, so the day got even better <grin>. My third stop can be longer than expected, but today I was in and out in just over 15 minutes. That gave me some extra time before the deadline for dropping the car at the body shop. They dropped me back at the rental office and I headed beck home in newer rental vehicle. Things should be done by Friday or maybe Saturday. I'm hoping for Friday, but we'll see. The guy has a very full schedule and has been turning folks away this week. I waited for just under two months to get this smaller job done since it did not affect driveability.
I found myself thinking early in the day that this was going to be a busy day. Then I laughed. I was reminded of a former workplace where the word 'busy' was banned. At the time, we had no regional manager so five program managers took on that role for several months. When we'd meet regularly, there would be push back from people who would say that 'hey were so busy with the program management they couldn't possibly be at so many meetings. We all agreed that such phrasing was rather triggering to the rest of the team who also had very full schedules. Omitting that one word from our office vocabulary challenged each of us use more careful phrasing to more clearly explain what was currently front and centre in our programs. That helped so much. We moved into a problem solving space rather than feeling overwhelmed by the difficulties. Life became much more positive once we made this change. Oh, and we also learned how to gently call each other on the word usage for the moments when one of us would use the offending word during a stressful moment. In the long run, this experience assisted me with carefully explaining why I was saying 'no' and to realize that in most cases it was really 'no, not at this moment. Give me X amount of time and then I'll be ready.'
Taking moments throughout the day helped me to appreciate the fantastic weather as well as move from one meeting to the next. I was reminded of a song that has been recorded by many artists over the decades since it was written. I finally landed on one version by a Canadian jazz singer and pianist. Keep safe. Enjoy!
Blue Skies -- Diana Krall
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