If you know me even moderately well, there are some things you’ve probably figured out. For instance, if you’ve been around me in the morning, you know that it’s best not to speak to me until after 10 a.m. or several cups of coffee. You may have realized that I have excessive amounts of energy and I’m something of a multi-tasker. And if you’ve spent any time at all with me participating in a relaxing activity like watching television, you’ve likely come to the realization that I don’t do down time very well. At all. But once in a while my multi-tasking gets the best of me, I run out of energy, and my body insists that my brain TAKE A BREAK, ALREADY!!! I come down with some indefinable sickness that wipes my energy and forces me to do something I don’t do naturally…relax. Such was the case last Thursday and Friday.
I was obviously sick in more ways than one–my body was exhausted because I hadn’t had a full night’s rest in days, and I was all achy and my throat hurt. But I was also just at the end of my rope, emotionally and spiritually: nothing seemed to be going right, I was grouchy and irate, and everything anyone said to me seemed to be a slight of some kind, so I was touchy and just off my game in every sense of the word. I won’t go into the details here, but I’ve been super worried about what the future holds, and I’d forgotten the things that matter and lost perspective in lots of respects.
So when my body insisted that I stay home and get some rest, I did. I sat down and had a nice cup of tea while I listened to beautiful music and then I watched a completely ridiculous movie. Then I read one of those books that holds a place on the Read When You Lose Perspective shelf in my library. The tea was English Breakfast, the music was my eclectic playlist from our Apple TV and the movie was Welcome to Mooseport (I just like it). The book was The Art of Possibility, by Benjamin and Rosamund Stone Zander*. Designed for management professionals, it is much better and more practical than any other leadership book I’ve read–and infinitely more wise. As has happened so many times in the years since I first read it, I found myself shedding my heavy feelings of frustration and fear of the unknown, and falling, as Zander puts it, back “…into the radiant realm of possibility.” Cheesy as it sounds, it helped me, and I felt like I was back on track and a little more in touch with who I am and where I want to be, and I’m excited, rather than fearful, about the future.
So now that you’ve learned more than you likely wanted to know about my little mini-breakdown and recovery, I’ll move on to this week’s enlightened, full-of-possibility top 20 and bottom 10. Enjoy!
* Other books on that shelf include The Gift of Change by Marianne Williamson, The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff, Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder, Theophilus North by Thornton Wilder, and Franny & Zooey by JD Salinger.
top 20
- relaxing
- The Butler Bulldogs. They didn’t quite make it at the end of the Big Dance, but they were great all the way through the tournament.
- the One Shining Moment video montage
- Jamey, who keeps us in technology
- Disney
- finally planting some flowers in the front yard
- Kings of Leon
- the story about the dog that survived the Japan Tsunami
- Fernie Aceves, our CPA in El Paso who still does our taxes every year
- HEB (my favorite grocery store)
- Fry’s (Jamey’s favorite electronics mega-store)
- blooming roses
- rain
- this recipe for the braised pork ribs and risotto that I made on Saturday night
- the green chile chicken enchiladas that I made on Sunday Night (that recipe is in my head)
- Five Guys and Fries
- MythBusters
- ADELE. I resisted for a while, but I’m on the bandwagon now.
- flat bread pizza
- the Angry Birds Rio iPad app
bottom 10
- WalMart
- Inane leading questions from sports reporters. Example: “How frustrating was it to miss that shot?”
- my very dirty car
- remembering the dozen green bags I have in my car when I’m at the check-0ut line, being asked about paper or plastic
- allergies
- budget cuts
- addictive Easter candy
- measuring work productivity by number of hours rather than actual work productivity
- working all weekend
- paying for valet parking unnecessarily
I am so sorry you were sick! I feel bad that you were having a rough time, but I am glad you are feeling better!
[…] by EastEnder Notes in Uncategorized The List! The List!! If you know me even moderately well, there are some things you've probably figured out. For instance, if you've been around me in the morning, you know that it's best not to speak to me until after 10 a.m. or several cups of coffee. You may have realized that I have excessive amounts of energy and I'm something of a multi-tasker. And if you've spent any time at all with me participating in a relaxing activity like watching television, you've lik … Read More […]