. . . SO GO WITH THE FLOW!

     Today was one of those days.  I woke up with a smile, a full agenda, and a plan I looked forward to implementing, everything figured out and scheduled on a timeline. 

     But the help I’d planned on never materialized and 42 personalized client news releases weren’t going to get distributed unless I did the grunt work myself.  The best I could do for the first six people I called was leave voicemails.  The dog had bad breath and my shoelace broke.  You get the picture. 

     The whole day was headed down the tubes, but I decided to heed my own advice and “g o   w i t h   t h e   f l o w.” 

     In the softball game I squeezed in at lunchtime, I produced three pitiful infield hits and was safe on an error, but, hey, four times on base for four times up, y’know?  And I scored twice and got 2 RBI’s, but ONLY because I decided to run my butt off from the moment of contact and not give up, and ONLY because instead of cursing and throwing my bat after such feeble hitting, I stood catching my breath and laughing with the first baseman who said he was getting sick of seeing me. 

     In distributing the news releases, I uncovered bad contact information for five key reporters and was able to update the master list.  (The help I didn’t get would not have known this, and releases would have been wasted.) 

     It turned storm-level windy this afternoon, killing plans to cookout, but ending up with some super pasta, and being prompted to notice and repair a beleagured windchime! 

     I could go on, but you already know –as Paul Harvey says– the rest of the story! 

     You’ve been there and done that! 

     So, all this is is (is is is like that that?) a reminder to make the most of everyday as best you can by going with whatever lands on your plate, in your lap or on your shoulders. 

     Being happy and helping others be happy is a whole lot more rewarding (and healthy) than sweeping unexpected events you know where in order to pile drive through your task list.  Of course it helps to have a role model in your life, and I do, which is how I know about “Happy-makers.”  I’m married to one!     

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Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 43 days ago (inside a coffin) that previously appeared at the end of each daily post, that now has it’s own home: Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the lead headline link!

Juggling seagulls

                                                                    

doesn’t work too well

                                                    

either,

                                                                                     

and rattlesnakes? 

      When the assignments on your plate seem impossible to deal with, and you’re getting scratched and scowled and screeched at, step out of the batter’s box, take a deep breath, and reassess where you are, where you’re going . . . and what you can do this minute to give yourself a better at-bat. 

     Are you trying to fulfill requests from two different bosses?  Get them together (or at least on the phone), explain the circumstances, and ask them to decide the priorities for you.  When you take that responsibility on your own shoulders, you are setting yourself up for a strikeout!

     A conflict in your time commitments with two different clients or customers?  This is one you have to decide, but you can always explain your situation, ask each for a little patience, and offer each specific target dates/times when you expect to have their needs met or materials ready.

     The conflict is with yourSELF?  That’s the easiest to deal with.  You probably won’t fire yourself, or cut your salary or take a demotion.  If you repremand yourself, do it in the mirror and make it short and sweet so you can get on with the work that needs to get done.  What you really need to do is focus on your prioritizing and delegating skills here.  You need to tackle task one and see it through to completion before even thinking about task two.  If you can delegate the task, do it.  If you can’t delegate the task at hand, examine what else you CAN delegate, and do that! 

     I mean, juggling cats is as impossible as it sounds, but if you don’t deal with it when you need to, you could go one or two worse . . . juggling seagulls doesn’t work very well either, and rattlesnakes?  Forget about it.  Now that you’ve weighed all this, get back up to the plate; concentrate on the ball; and smack the next one out of the park!                halalpiar    

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