Thoughts On The Flu...
The week before last my beautiful wife can down with the flu...not just any flu...but that nasty one that chases kids around at the playground. For a week she was NOT the wife and mom I used to know. For a week I had to change my habits and plans to accommodate. And then just as she was good enough to get back on her feet (Yes!!!), I got food poisoning. Yuck! I never felt so at one with my toilet before.
I believe every experience in life has meaning that transcends the moment. So here are a few of my learnings:
(1) Experience: Young children don't care if you are sick. They still want to play games with you. Learning: Your business customer does not care about system moratoriums, if anything they want to increase the release items.
(2) Experience: I told my son we would go out and play after his sister woke up from her nap. My son decided that the loudest toys were the best ones to play with in the meantime. Learning: Do not pin people against one another or cause your problem to be someone else's. People are inherently creative and will surprise you.
(3) Experience: Don't forget to let the dog out... Learning: If you ignore your people they will piss on you when you need them to just leave you alone.
(4) Experience: The laundry can wait, the dishes can wait, the vacuuming and dusting can wait. Learning: If someone else doesn't do the day-to-day... you will--and its more work by the time you get to it.
(5) Experience: Rather than drive 15 more minutes...I spent $30 on magazines, ginger ale and saltines at the local convenience mart. Learning: People in adverse times will throw away money even when they know a little patience would help them save in the long run.
(6) Experience: When you are sick its a crisis and everything is miserable. Learning: Cope with crisis by having people equipped with the tools, training, and communications to help you fix it. Oh, and be nice to the in-laws...they can really bail you out when you are sick.
Overall I learned a good case of illness can definitely reset your perspective. Today I appreciate my beautiful wife, the sun is out, I like my job, and I enjoyed taking my children to the playground.
posted by JT at 2:38 PM
4 Comments:
Many folks talk about work/life balance but haven't figured that one can achieve equilibrium by focusing on the later...
One cannot achieve equilibrim by focusing on any one thing...I have work experiences that teach me about people and human nature in general -- and I have life situations which help me be pragmatic about work...both motivate me to talk and write about the learnings. Sometimes a good analogy or metaphor is the best way to convey a message.
Focus doesn't mean exclusivity unless the one doing is only capable of doing one thing at a time :-)
Will of course blog in the future on metaphor-oriented architectures...
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
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