Work, life and things in between – Day 63 – Like an old couple!
Brain and body are like an old couple. They develop ways of getting along and in most cases, you can’t really tell who will take the lead. They have mastered the job sharing concept.
So when I went to bed early that night, my body was in the driver’s seat and everything was quiet. There was no argument. All the lights were out in no time flat.
Not for long.
By 3.30 am, my brain could not hold still any longer. “Move over” it told my body and took the lead. They argued for a while, much like a dancing couple fighting over who is going to lead, but as any good dancer will tell you, there can only be one to lead.
So, the body yielded. The brain took the lead. We could not go back to sleep.
4 am, the smell of coffee was floating through the apartment and I was already into section 2 of the Globe & Mail. The news was depressing. The thought crossed my mind that I needed to stop reading and stop thinking and perhaps signing up for something fun like tap dancing, mountain biking or who knows? a beer drinking contest perhaps would do me a lot of good.
There was a need to lighten up.
Of course I made it on time to the airport. I was heading to Montreal that morning and landed late in the afternoon with just enough time to go home, change and meet a couple of Tem’s friends for dinner. The next day was a true day off. Short but sweet. Before I knew it, I was back at the airport.
Tem and I each had a morning flight that day, so we shared the cab ride to the airport and even had time for coffee at the lounge. The Montreal-Vancouver flight was full, as usual.
Once seated, I realized that in the seats surrounding me was a team of co-workers. They were preparing for a meeting. For what I could gather, they were a mix of HR and Operations folks and if you were to ask me I would say they were getting ready for Labor negotiations. It sounded that way to me.
I listened to them for a while and then sat back, closed my eyes and pretended to be one of them. How did I feel? Was I excited to be preparing for the fight ahead? Did I like the synergy? Was I motivated at the thought of creating a new environment?
If they had elbowed me and asked “Psstt…can you help?” I don’t know that I would have been all that thrilled to jump in.
If I were one of them, who would I want to be? My thoughts were that the woman next to me was the Lead. Felt like it. Her behavior did not necessarily give it away but the way the others behaved around her did. Who did I want to be? Definitely the Lead. That much I knew. I did not think I could be anything else at that stage. I figured this out in my career transition classes. I did not like being part of the class. I only liked being in front of it.
I am thinking that at this stage in my career I could be cocky. To day 64.