Dealing with pitfalls
Many of us often feel the saying if it’s not one thing, it’s another, within our lives. Meaning, something always comes up, typically when we just finished a task. But life, and its pitfalls, will happen. It’s how we deal with them that separates us.
Potential pitfalls
Let’s say after a long day at work, you just ran errands, including grocery shopping, getting gas, and picking up a prescription. You’ve just returned home, unloaded the groceries, and put the medicine in its place. At last, you’re able to lay on the couch, crack open a bottle of wine, and watch your favorite show you recorded yesterday.
Except, as you’re taking the cork out of your wine, your kid comes running in the living room with his soccer uniform on, looking at you crazy, asking why you’re not ready to take him to practice. You let out a big sigh and come to realize you forgot all about his practice. Needless to say, you’re upset, but you handle the situation just as any responsible parent would and take your son to his practice.
It will rain
If one thing is rest assured, it’s that some days it will rain. Life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes it’s thunder and lightning, and we must prepare for both. Maybe you’ve just finished a project at work that your supervisor gave you. It’s been going on for months, and you’ve spent endless hours deep-diving into research, compiling and aggregating data, going through version after version, iteration after iteration, and you’ve finally completed it. What’s left for you to do? In your mind, nothing.
You’ve been waiting for this very moment, as you’ve accumulated some vacation time and have planned to take a week of vacation in the upcoming week. Your hotel is booked, reservations for dinner are made, and you can’t wait to get away with your spouse. Just before you’re about to clock out for the weekend and vacation ahead, your supervisor calls you into their office.
Your supervisor has only briefly looked over your project, saying it looks impressive, but needs you to take care of a different task. Something came up with another client, and they need a proposal finished by the end of next week. Your supervisor says they know you’ve already taken off next week but that you’re the only one capable of leaving the lasting impression needed to land one of the largest potential clients this company has ever seen.
You recognize what the acquisition of this client’s business would do for the company, but you’re very reluctant to cancel your vacation. You do what, unfortunately, many adults have to do. You cancel your vacation, move everything around, and start working on the proposal.
It will also shine
As with any area of life, you must look from all sides. Remaining negative in any situation has never gotten anybody anywhere. So when prompted to focus on the positives, what can you point out? Someone cynical and quick to become pessimistic but slow to notice production and optimism from others is someone you don’t want any part of indeed. While hindsight doesn’t always produce foresight, after many thunderstorms, there are rainbows.
Keeping both sides of the fence in mind when navigating any potential pitfalls in life is most beneficial. There will be highs, and there will be lows, but it’s best to stay even keel. Maybe when you took your son to soccer practice, you witnessed his first goal, and now have a memory you’ll cherish forever. Or perhaps your supervisor promoted you because of your continued hard work and dedication to the company, and now you receive more paid time off to spend with your family. When things are going very well, ground yourself and remain humbled. When they aren’t going well at all, remind yourself that they have before and that it’s only a matter of time before they will again.
