Surviving the Storm

I sat at the edge of the bed, it was time to leave for work, but I didn’t want to go. I was mentally and physically exhausted. I reached for my phone to send a text message to say I wasn’t coming in. A voice in my head told me I needed to try. I told my son I would stop by after work, and I had a long weekend coming up. If I could just survive the next twelve to fourteen hours, I would be ok. The month had started with my wife being sick. I’m not sure what’s been going around, but this was the type of sickness that stuck around for three to four weeks. We have an outdoor cat that goes into the garage every night, most of the time she’s gone all day, but when it gets dark out, she comes home and sleeps all night in a workshop we have in the garage. One night, she just didn’t show back up. She could stay away for one night, but after a week of not seeing her, I needed to face reality. Then the weather finally caught up with us. After having the most boring winter on record, the cold and snow showed up. It was a week of the temperature being around zero, but with wind chill, it was usually around negative ten to twenty degrees outside. Then snow showed up, every single day. Somewhere during all the cold and snow, it was my turn to get sick. I had no energy, and a cough that wouldn’t stop. I would sleep eight hours and wake up exhausted. Everyday at work was filled with a new challenge. Lots of changes are going on and everyone has questions.

A Little Bit of Rain

Every storm starts with a little bit of rain. But sometimes, that little bit of rain quickly turns into a storm. Let me be clear, I know the difference between some rain and a storm. Everyone should be able to handle some rain. In fact, you should always expect some rain in your day. If you get it, you are prepared. If you don’t get it, enjoy the sunshine! The part I struggle with sometimes is seeing that the rain is turning into a storm. One thing happens, no problem, I can handle that. A few more small things happen, I’m still good. But it felt like the whole month of February was three or four big things going on all at once. My wife would get better, I would get sick. I would get better; something would happen at work. Work would calm down; snow is in the forecast. I felt like I was getting hit from every direction. So, when did it go from some rain to a storm? Was I so focused on one thing that I didn’t see everything else coming at me?

It's Not All Up to Me

As I sat on the bed, one thing became very clear, I couldn’t do it all. I want to do it all, and I want to do it all every single day. I’ve always said that one of my negatives is that I want to be so reliable that I am taken for granted. It’s a great goal until you are so overwhelmed that you can’t breathe. If you are sick, you are sick. If the weather is bad and you can’t make it to work, that’s why you have co-workers and vacation days. Being a good leader and being a good teammate means that sometimes you stay home. If you show up all the other days, people won’t be mad or disappointed.

Priorities

When I got up from bed to go to work, I decided, no matter what, I was going to enjoy the time with my son. I wasn’t going to let all the noise on the outside ruin the short time I got to spend with him. A funny thing happened the next morning. I really enjoyed the time with my son, and after that the sun came out. My wife wasn’t sick anymore, I felt better than I had in what felt like a year, and after twenty-two days away, at five o’clock on Monday morning, the cat showed back up. She won’t say where she was or what she did, but she seemed glad to be home. I decided to focus on my family, and the sun came out shortly after that, what a great lesson I learned, too bad it took a month to figure it out.