Review, rejuvenate and rededicate...

Look back;
now let it go...
take care of yourself...
find new reasons for doing what you enjoy, for making a difference, for working at your job, for life...

At the end of every year, our office meets in various groupings for a "retreat" (I have never been a fan of that word, preferring the term "advance" instead). We look at what we have done over the year, review our success, evaluate our less than successful endeavors and begin to plan for the coming academic year.

This evaluation reminds me that as humans, we are quick to forget the day to day mountains we climb but we are much more adept at keeping track of our own (and other's) perceived failures.

My personal management belief flows from the concept that if you are not missing the mark sometimes then you are not trying anything new, you are remaining too safely tucked away from any 'danger zone' and you are not learning or growing...you are certainly not providing innovative resources. Being creative is risky and sometimes you will fall...be bold, be able to try something new; be willing to miss the mark and recreate again next time.

To rejuvenate, we all need to be as healthy as we can be. We live in a world where stress has become the norm and is even celebrated in some circles. I understand the meaning behind challenging our minds and bodies to grow stronger, but this is not the stress I am talking about. I am addressing the daily insults, the moment by moment denigration that can happen in this world and often takes place at work. This is the stress that causes weight gain, raises blood pressure, makes people drink too much, leaves us all so tired at the end of the day that we never get around to working in the garden, reading that book, playing with our kids or our pets, knitting the sweater, or talking with friends on the phone.

The call for life work balance is truly a call for being treated like an adult in the workforce. It is a call for being allowed the dignity of having a life outside of the office, for not being asked to account for our days in a minute by minute poll of measured success where all the measurement variables are set by someone else.

So, this summer...sit outside in the evening more (go to a sidewalk cafe or a local park if you live in an apartment), pick a book or subscribe to a new magazine to read that is not career related, walk the dog instead of just letting them out in the yard, go to dinner with friends you miss and care about, have friends over for a dinner party, go swimming (and do not worry about how your thighs look...just enjoy the feel of the water), watch the birds, listen to the breeze, run, walk, dance, sing, laugh...rejuvenate your body, mind and soul.

Oh, and if you have been putting off the visit to the doctor, dentist etc...go before the end of July!

To rededicate means to find the new meaning in what you do and how you live. What are those values that create your core but you have left on the side of the road? Be you, forgive silly grievances, forget the hurts that hold you back. Search your heart for the place where the 8 year old you lives. Pick up from there and rededicate your life to enjoying the journey and finding the magical moments in every bend in the road.

Happy almost June!