In The Oddest Places

I wake up from my morning nap to a text from one of my kids asking the same question as I was asked the night before. And several hours later, there is another text, just reminding me that the question still needs an answer. 

Nagging? Maybe. Relentless? Perhaps. My kids can certainly be those. But today, I choose to call it inspiring.

Why inspiring, when the asking and re-asking threatens to undermine my precious sleep and interrupt the work of daily life? And could be considered annoying and self-involved and completely oblivious to anything else I might have going on?

Why inspiring? Because in that moment, they are single-minded and determined. They are so intent upon accomplishing whatever it is that they want that they make sure they get their questions answered. They make sure they continue to move forward.

Too many times, I step back before getting all my questions answered. I defer too much to someone being busy or otherwise involved. I stay polite instead of fighting the fight. So, when I see my kids fight for what they are trying to accomplish, I am inspired. Results take action, and action often takes follow up. Often a LOT of follow up.

Sometimes it takes a kid (nagging or otherwise) to show us the ropes we thought we already knew. To remind us not to stop short of success. And sometimes, the greatest inspiration for what we do out in the world can be found awfully close to home.

Owning It

I added my newest work adventure to my LinkedIn profile. Because it is a part of me now. And certainly should be when people look me up.

And then, in a heartbeat, that adventure ended. Promotion? Kind of…or not…

But as awkward as it may be to be fielding warm wishes on my “promotion,” when I’m basically back to being the same person I was before, I remind myself of the nights of learning all sorts of new equipment and routines. I remind myself of the wee hours when a piece of machinery malfunctioned and I went from needing to call a support person to simply figuring it out myself. I remind myself that what started as “filling a hole” ended with my sitting in the chair, doing the job, taking responsibility for the pace and the elements and the look. Not as a seat filler. But because  it was now my job to do that.

It’s often easy, even natural, to play down the jobs that we do, and the things that we accomplish. If they aren’t accompanied by a title or more money or people’s recognition, did they really happen? Do they really matter, or mean anything?

But as I ponder what to do next with my LinkedIn, and my life, I remind myself that— 

I own the way I learned to troubleshoot machinery issues.

I own the fact that I trained my hands to hit the necessary buttons, and my eyes to look in the necessary places, when at first glance, I wasn’t sure I would ever have that coordination.

I own the confidence I developed in knowing how to do, how to fix, and how to teach.

I own my journey from trainee to teammate and leader.

Because in the end, who we are is about more than just what the world labels us. It’s about letting ourselves take the credit for what we have accomplished. Not simply by putting it on a resume or a LinkedIn profile. But by owning it.

Keep The Change

Full disclosure—the title came first. And as I looked at it on the page, I wasn’t quite sure where I would go with it….

I’ve gotten used to the ground shifting. Perhaps most of us have these last few years. And as we are emerging (are we?) from it all, nothing is really quite the same. Our relationships with family, and work, and even with ourselves can’t help but be different. But when the change is about more than masking or unmasking, standing close to people or not, or deciding what form of transportation to take, how do we handle it? How much are we able—and willing—to accept? To keep?

Over the last year, the makeup of my workplace has changed. People have left—on their own, or not so much so. Schedules have changed, policies have changed. And every change, whether large or small, makes a difference. Perhaps a friendly face you’ve been used to—even counted on—seeing is now gone. The flow of the work or the path that you take to get there is just a little different. The ground shifts, just a little. Or maybe a lot.

Some days, my reaction is “Stop!” Stop the ground from moving, stop the people from leaving, stop the rules from changing. Just please, please, keep all your changes. Don’t make me take them.

But where, in truth, would I be now, if nothing had ever changed? Would I have worked in sitcoms and classical music and news? Unlikely. Would I have learned some of the genuinely cool things I know now? Probably not. And would I ever have met many of the people who have profoundly changed, and continue to change, and improve, my life every day? No way.

So, when I find myself thinking “keep the change,” I remind myself that actually keeping—and embracing—the changes, whatever they are, helps me to move forward, and to fill my life in ways that I could never even imagine if everything stayed the same.

The title came first. But what I choose to do with it—that’s up to me…