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A Rude Awakening!
During one of the many thunderstorms our region experienced last week, all hail broke loose at our home about 3 a.m. In addition to the frequent and extremely loud claps of thunder, unnerving rain and hail, our beagle, Katy T. commenced to howling. She is terrified of thunderstorms. Wide awake, I sprang into action to comfort our dog and conduct a property inspection. Upon entering our lower level home office, I stepped into a pool of water rapidly spreading throughout.
After we had taken all the appropriate actions and I had a moment to think, it occurred to me that this is what my Dad would have called A Rude Awakening. My Dad was a great observer of people and occasionally he would comment "That young man (or woman) is in for a rude awakening." These comments were usually offered more as an observation than a judgment. It has taken a few decades for the wisdom of his observations to begin to sink in, but last Tuesday night got me thinking about it again.
The cause of the flood was very simple and easily fixed. The effect of the flood will take a lot of work, time and money to restore our home office to its original state. And, that would be "the rude part!" I am attempting to switch my focus from the "rude" part of the equation to the "awakenings" side of the situation. Even though the lessons from this situation have yet to dawn on me, just by asking myself what might be the lessons, or awakenings, from this highly unpleasant situation, I take myself from being a victim of circumstance to a student of life. Everyone has rude awakenings. The question is, do we pay more attention to the rude part or to the awakening? Since stuff happens, this becomes a very important question if we are committed to leading a fulfilling life and making the next decade our best decade yet.
One of our clients recently recounted her experience of giving performance evaluations to five individuals who report to her. She prepared for each meeting and took great care to provide each individual with forthright and constructive feedback. Four of the individuals received the feedback in the spirit in which it was intended, and most likely experienced "an awakening" around improvement opportunities. The fifth individual resigned her position. Might this experience end up being a Rude Awakening for the individual who chose to resign? One can only hope.
So often we get hung up on the Rude part of the circumstance, and completely miss the Awakening part. Life, being such a great teacher, is full of opportunities disguised as Rude Awakenings in one form or another. It is up to us to decide whether we want to move from Rude to Awakening during these opportunistic occasions.
If you truly wish to Enjoy Your Best Decade Yet, you might notice where you tend to place your attention when life hands you one of those Rude Awakenings. Rude is momentary; Awakenings last a lifetime.
And now your coaching challenge, should you choose to accept it.
If you have experienced a Rude Awakening of your own, can you distinguish what has been rude from what has been the awakening? If you are currently experiencing a rude awakening, how quickly can you define and confine the rude part and shift into asking yourself about the possible blessings and lessons from the situation?
We'll see you on line next Monday. Wishing You Your Best Week Yet!
Cheers! Coach Jeanne
The Quality Coach!®, Celebrating over 20 Years of Coaching Great Leaders & Teams.
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