Sunday, May 30, 2021 (Day 150)
New Meditation Music for the week: In the Fields of Peace: Liquid Mind (8:06) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiUnxwRh1iw
Question: What did your parents do for a career? How have their choices influenced your own?
Answer: Before I answer the today’s question, just wanted to share another journaling milestone – 150 days of journaling! To be honest, I never thought I would get this far. But now, it has become routine. Amazing. Now, on to my answer to the question…
My mom served as a high-level executive for a pharmaceuticals company, my dad was an accountant. The lesson I learned from both was that I didn’t want to be in the sciences or in business. I know that my dad never loved his job as an accountant; I don’t EVER remember him coming home sharing that he had a great day at work! Of course, driving the Garden State Parkway (in New Jersey) for an hour would not make ANYONE happy! I don’t know if my mom really enjoyed her job, but I can say that the lesson I learned from her was that she treating the people that worked with and under her with respect, and in most instances, treating them like family. I can remember going to visit her in the office and people telling me how much they LOVED working with my mom. And we had opportunities to hang out with them outside of the office and those experiences feeling like a family event, even when it was a work event. And I can say that I have felt that was on several occasions in the various positions I’ve had. Some of my bosses became friends, some I wanted NOTHING to do with them. At UNCG, our former Dean (Celia Hooper) was awesome; she treated us (the staff) as if we were family – and that made me want to work even harder for her, despite no pay raises for three years. She was just that awesome! Once she left, you could tell that things were different; now, it just feels like work. At least from my perspective, there’s very little appreciation and support for great work – it’s only about following processes, procedures, and protocol. On our campus right now, I rarely leave the office because most of the people I have connected with in the past have left the University, so no more visits across campus. Most of the time, I sit in my office or go teach my classes – and that’s about it. And we’ll have an entirely new administrative team in place in the School of HHS this year and I wonder if my isolation will even be more extreme. My guess is that it’s a sign that I need to move on. I can thank my parents for showing me what I didn’t want to do, which is just as important as showing me what I want to do.
Other Stuff
I’m going to share an article that’s one of those that is just an interesting take on life. Check it out here:
- The 3 Uncomfortable Signs You’re Finally Becoming Your True Self – https://psiloveyou.xyz/the-3-uncomfortable-signs-youre-finally-becoming-your-true-self-da0a473fc36d
It’s not something that’s earth-shattering, but it’s one that gets you to think about your life a little bit, to wonder how you’re doing. The three areas are: (1) You’re finally letting go. (2) You’re ruffling a few feathers. (3) You’re experiencing painful rejection. I do #2 really well, almost to a fault. Numbers 1 and 3 – not so much, but I am a work in progress. There’s always work to be done to be better, right?
While you’re at it you might want to read this one as well. It’s really short, but really helpful:
- For a Life of Freedom, Ditch These 6 Habits – https://medium.com/on-the-couch/for-a-life-of-freedom-ditch-these-6-habits-e69112ce1837
My favorite: #5. Stop caring what other people (with different dreams) think of you.
If anything, choose one nugget from each article and run with it.
The Dream Dean 