Geronimo!

If you're a fan of Doctor Who, today's title makes sense to you already and you hear it being yelled.  For those of you who aren't Doctor Who fans, "Geronimo!" is a battlecry of sorts when the Doctor is venturing into dangerous (or exciting) situations and he's often diving in headfirst into that situation.  I am trying to embody that mentality as I go into this upcoming work week and hang onto that feeling going forward.  I feel as if I'm facing some uphill battles at work so having a battlecry like "Geronimo!" is going to help me face those challenges head-on.

Not only do we have an inspection visit this week (with a group of big wigs coming to the building), I have a parent meeting to prepare for, I'm down a staff member (she resigned and her last day was this past Friday), I have a staff member who has received a small promotion and is now acting like all tasks are beneath her, and with all of this, business still has to operate as usual.  I'm still trying to learn how to balance things all of these challenges at work and still keep what's left of my sanity in the process.  I know that there would be some that would tell me that it's just a job and I shouldn't let it overly stress me out but I don't operate that way - I'm too much of a perfectionist for that.  I want to do the best job that I can everyday and that takes effort.  I am to the point currently though that I'm asking myself is all of the effort worth what I'm getting back?

In my head I can rationalize that I work too many hours and there is no recognition for the amount of work I accomplish or the amount of time I dedicate to work.  So why do I do it?  I want to be a good manager and I want to do the best job I can.  I guess I'm hoping that one of these days I'll be recognized for those accomplishments even if I know that it's a long shot.  Even though I've never necessarily been my own cheerleader (I often find the criticisms in myself versus praising myself for the good) this is something that I might need to work on since I'm not getting it from other people.  This is probably another opportunity to go into the unknown yelling "Geronimo!" and hope for the best!

Yesterday the dance troupe had two performances at a large belly dance festival about two hours away.  Now, I'm not usually one who likes to ride with someone else to these things but a friend who's not in the troupe wanted to go and she asked if I wanted to ride with her.  I said yes and we actually had a really good adventure.  It started to rain a little bit on the way there but we were listening to good music and had some good conversation so we didn't really mind.  We got to the festival, did some shopping (I got a couple of pairs of new earrings that I fell in love with and I also bought a hamsa painting), and then I had to get ready to perform.  Everyone in the troupe survived both performances (and the costume change) and people said we did a really good job.  I had two new costumes courtesy of Mom that people wanted to steal and that always makes me very proud to be in possession of her beautiful creations.

On the drive back from the festival, the rain picked up, traffic was heavy and we got a little lost but we had more good music and conversation so it was all okay in my book.  One of the things we talked about was dealing with our interactions with people and how it's like having a castle - people you don't know yet or don't trust, you keep outside the city walls and beyond the wall/moat because you don't know what "weapons" they are trying to bring in; people you work with are allowed inside the city walls but they are still outside of the castle because they also have "weapons" they might try and attack you with; friends are invited into the castle and unless they are really good friends, they are kept inside the great hall; family and close friends are invited into your library because that's where you have your advisory meetings; as the ruler of your castle, you have to be wary of who you invite into your chambers because that's where you are most vulnerable - so do you let people in or completely lock them out?  Now that metaphor of the castle made a lot of sense to me but I know that my city walls are thick, there are multiple archer turrets, it has a couple of drawbridges to go through and the moat is deep/wide.  Not only do I have these things to protect my castle, there is a dragon guarding my castle and that dragon is me.  What I have to remember is not to scare everyone (including my advisors) away in my dragon form...

Well my dear readers, I am going to bring this to a close for tonight so I can attempt to go to bed (since I'm not overly tired with it being the first day of Daylight Savings time).  As I go into this week, I am going to remember to face every challenge head-on while I shout "Geronimo!"  I hope you can do the same!  =)