Archive for the ‘work’ Category

Not First Thing In the Morning, Please!

Posted: May 13, 2013 in Employment, Food, friendship, life, management, personnel characteristics, words, work
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quiet_pleaseI’ve never been much of a morning person and I am sure I never will be.

Having said that, despite working flexi time and not actually having to be in until 10am, I’m usually at work sometime between 8.30 and 9.15. Even so, I still like a bit a quietness then…at least until I’ve had my first coffee of the morning!

It’s funny how some of us like to get up early in the morning and just get on with things right away, while others of us like to have a long lie and like to slowly get into things. I definitely fall into that second category, how about you?

Just because I’m not a morning person and like to slowly move into my day, doesn’t mean I don’t get much done, it simply means I probably finish things a bit later. e.g. In a work sense, I’m often one of the last to leave the office at night.

So please, for those of you who are morning people, please remember some of us are not morning people and we like a quiet peaceful start to our mornings, thank you.

Drown Them Out!

Posted: May 1, 2013 in Employment, feedback, friendship, life, management, motivation, personnel characteristics, words, work
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self-confidenceIs it any wonder that some people lack confidence in their ability when there are some who constantly try to impose their own opinions on them.

Are you confident in your own ability, or do other peoples’ opinions drag you down?

Well be confident in yourself, because you’re not, how will anyone else be confident in you. In order to be confident in yourself though, you need to take this advice from Steve Jobs:

Don’t let the noise of other people’s opinion drown out your own inner voice

 

All Year Long

Posted: December 30, 2012 in bereavement, birthday, Christmas, death, dementia, family, Health, hospital, life, love, music, pray, religion, winter, work
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So we’re almost at the end of 2012. I don’t know about you, but this year seems to be over nearly as soon as it began! I know some will tell me that’s a sign of getting old, but I refuse to believe that, as I think it’s simply been because there’s been so much going on in my life this year…again.

emergency-signIt’s been another tough year for me:

  • Supporting my hubby as his health has deteriorated
  • Supporting my Mum for the first half of the year while she struggled to continue to look after and care for my Dad at home as his dementia worsened
  • Supporting Mum in the second half of the year as Dad first of all was in hospital for over 10 weeks and then moved into a local nursing home
  • Visiting my aunt who has been living in a care home for over 2 years and who reached the grand age of 90 in October
  • Various trips to A&E with my hubby , my Dad and my aunt – and of course they were all long waits, and sometimes during the night
  • Hubby’s retirement – which looking back on things was the best thing he could have done given how his health has deteriorated since he finished working
  • Several family bereavements
  • On-going health issues of my own

In amongst all that I’ve managed to keep working full-time, and unbelievably haven’t been off sick all year! Not quite sure how I managed that as there were some days when my pain levels were so severe I really don’t know how I managed to get through the day at work, but obviously I managed it somehow!

Anyway, enough about my year. I hope that whatever this year has brought you, good or bad, you will have made the most of your time with your friends and family as we never know what tomorrow will bring. I pray that you may have felt God‘s blessings on you during this year, and as we look ahead to 2013 you may go forward with confidence that whatever situations you have to deal with, God is by your side not just during this Christmas season, but all year-long.

All Year Long by Michael W Smith

This Christmas season I wish you joy
The wonder in every girl and boy
I  wish you gladness, the warmth and cheer
Of good friends and family gathered near

May children’s laughter in falling snow
Rekindle those  sweet scenes from long ago
May every carol, each candle bright
Remind  you why angels sang that night

If trouble finds you, this is my  prayer
May peace come into your hearts and make you strong
 And I wish you luck, the kind to last all year-long

Party Time!

Posted: December 15, 2012 in alcohol, Christmas, family, friendship, holiday, life, music, work
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It’s Christmas time, and for many that also means party time!

Christmas Party

But what does party time mean to you? A night out with friends and/or colleagues? A Christmas meal? Lots of drinking? Lots of dancing? Very late night or even an early morning?

And what about the day after the party, how do you feel? Hangover? Little recollection of events from the previous night? Exhausted? Memories of a night full of fun?

Sadly for many, Christmas night‘s out are all about drinking lots of alcohol and getting into a state that means they are not in control of their actions, and will have little memory of anything they have said or done. For me that’s not a good night out, that’s just a waste of money!

You can have a great night out and have fun spending time with friends, without the need for alcohol…trust me on that one as I’m talking from experience!

christmas party2I find it quite annoying when people assume that just because I don’t drink I can’t enjoy a good night out! I’m sorry to break all your preconceptions, but not drinking and having fun aren’t mutually exclusive!

Please don’t misunderstand my message today, I am not against people drinking, I am against people drinking to excess, because after all what does that achieve both for the person doing the drinking and those who have to look after them…I’ll let you answer that question yourself.

In conclusion, if you’re attending a Christmas party in the run up to Christmas, I hope you have a great night out, but even more so I’d ask you not to drink to excess but instead drink responsibly. 

Attitude Matters

Posted: November 10, 2012 in life, management, motivation, work
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A leader/manager’s attitude rubs off on their team – It either enhances or impedes the team’s performance.

So what kind of attitude does your leader/manager have?

What kind of attitude do you have?

While you may not be able to positively influence the attitude of your leader/manager, you can change your own attitude. Therefore, have a critical look at yourself, and identify areas of your attitude that you can improve - don’t pretend there’s nothing you can improve, as none of us are perfect so we all have things we could improve on!

Let’s make our attitude matter and become great positive influences on other’s lives. 

My Aims 2012 – October Review

Posted: October 31, 2012 in bible, blogging, clothing, dementia, depression, family, Food, friendship, Health, heart, holiday, hospital, housework, life, love, management, music, pray, prayer, religion, sport, tennis, Travel, weight, work
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At the start of this year, I shared with you my aims for this year (Welcome to 2012) – not my new year resolutions, but what I aim to achieve this year. Then at the end of each month this year, I’ve given you an update on how I’m doing. So here’s my latest update for October…

  • Eat healthier
    • An improvement this month on the last couple of months, as not only have I’ve done reasonably ok with this one when I’ve been working, but also done not too badly the rest of the time too!
    • Been drinking a lot of water at work, but haven’t managed to eat quite as much fruit in the last month.
    • For some of this month I was still going to the hospital to visit Dad, so had to have a few quick/ready meals for dinner as I was so tired by the time I got home from the hospital.
    • Fortunately Dad’s now out of hospital so for the last couple of weeks my eating has been much healthier at home!
  • Lose some weight
    • Small loss this month for the first time in a couple of months – it was only a pound, but at least I’m back to losing some weight again!
    • Hopefully now I don’t have hospital visiting to do every day, I can get back on track with my healthy eating both at work and at home.
  • Spend more time reading my bible
    • Yet more excuses this month I’m afraid!
    • I’m still  struggling to find the time and energy to sit down and spend any quality time reading my bible.
    • I’ve said this for the last few months, but maybe next month I’ll manage it!
  • Don’t let pain rule my life
    • My pain levels have continued to be quite high this month, but I’m still just trying to get on with things as best I can.
    • Again I feel as though I’m making excuses, but I’m simply just saying how things are because of 12 weeks of hospital visiting I was doing while Dad was in hospital, and although he’s now out of hospital it’s taking me a while to try to get some energy back, soit’s hardly surprising my pain levels have remained high.
  • Get back to playing tennis as stopped playing in 2003 when I first wasn’t well
    • Not managed this yet as there’s been too many more important things to deal with in my life in this last month again.
  • Put aside a minimum of 5 minutes each day to spend some quiet-time with God
    • A repeat of last few months again as I managed to spend some quiet time with God, however still spending much of it crying.
  • Get back to playing the piano regularly as it’s been a while
    • Continuing to make no progress with this one!
  • Go on holiday – we’ve not been away anywhere since 2002
    • Again, no progress on this one!
  • Keep on top of the housework (especially the ironing mountain!)
    • Still failing miserably at this one due to all the things going on in my life just now.
  • More patience and understanding of others
    • Still finding this incredibly difficult!
    • I keep telling myself I must not get impatient with others, but when it comes to it, I fail miserably…much more praying for patience is required!
  • Stop procrastinating
    • Still doing ok with this most of the time, but ye, I do still have my moments!

So that’s my honest answers to how I’m getting on with my aims for 2012 – To summarise my progress to date…it’s stalled a bit in the last few months, but overall, given recent circumstances, I’m reasonably happy with my progress even though I could do so much better!

There’s still plenty of months to go in 2012, so I’ve still got time to achieve them all before the end of this year!

How about you, are you succeeding with your aims for 2012 so far?

Whatever your aims for this year, I pray you may be making progress in your aims for 2012, and that come the end of the year you will have achieved all God had planned for you this year!

Problems, Problems, Problems

Posted: October 26, 2012 in language, life, management, words, work
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How many times have you found yourself saying, or heard someone else saying, “It just seems to be nothing but one problem after another”?

And how many times have your or someone else responded by saying, “They’re not problems, just challenges”?

To be honest I’ve never really liked that statement, “They’re not problems, just challenges“. I’m not entirely sure what it is about that statement that I’ve never really liked, but I do know that there are times in everyone’s life when some things are definitely problems and not challenges!

As far as I’m concerned, some problems can be challenging, but not every challenge is a problem! I hope that makes some kind of sense to you!

Whether you prefer the word “challenge” to “problem“, try not to be problem minded…be solution minded. After all if we go looking for solutions we usually find them, so surely the same can be said of problems…if we go looking for problems, we will find them!

A Reminder of My Need

Posted: October 21, 2012 in dementia, depression, family, friendship, Health, hospital, life, love, music, pray, prayer, religion, work
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The other day in the office I was listening to my iPod while I read through some documentation. As is normally the case when I’m listening to my iPod in the office, it’s more of a background noise than me actually listening to the words and music.

Having said that though, at one point that day I suddenly realised my emotions where taking over and the tears were about to start streaming down my face!

Why? The words and music of the song that was playing on my ipod Draw Me Close by Kathy Troccoli had touched me subconsciously and I think if I hadn’t been sitting at my desk in the office I would have fallen to my knees!

I found I had to stop what I was doing and just listen to the rest of the song, with my hand firmly hiding my tar filled eyes from the others around me. I think with all that’s been going on in my life in the last while, between my Dad being in hospital, finding it tough being patient with my Mum and hubby not being very well, I’ve forgotten that God is all I need, and that He is always with me.

If you’ve been to caught up in life recently, and forgotten that God is always with you and will always provide for you, please join me in kneeling before Him and asking God to draw us close to Him.

Draw Me Close

Draw me close to you
Never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear you say that I’m your friend

You are my desire
No one else will do
Cause nothing else can take your place
To feel the warmth of your embrace

Help me find the way
Bring me back to you

You’re all I want
You’re all I’ve ever needed
You’re all I want
Help me know you are near

(repeat)

Some Random Thoughts #7

Posted: October 20, 2012 in animals, birthday, blogging, family, friendship, Health, life, news, pets, weather, words, work
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Why am I so scared of all spiders…big or small!

Why do we have mental blocks about how to spell words we use every day?

Why are some illness so cruel?

Isn’t it funny how it’s always the days you forget your umbrella, that it rains the hardest?

Why do some people not seem to have an “indoor” voice…or at least one that they use!

Why do we Scots always think that this tournament might just be the one our football team will do well at…will we never learn!

Why does my cat always know when I’m getting food for him, regardless of where he is or what he’s doing!

Why do some people feel it is their duty to share with you little thing they achieve during their working day?

Why do all the light bulbs in one room always blow on the same day?

Why is it so hard to find a 90th birthday card?

 

You Can’t Be In Pain! #2

Posted: October 8, 2012 in arthritis, blogging, cancer, depression, friendship, Health, heart, language, life, management, work
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Today I want to continue my blog posts about pain by sharing another example of coping with pain…

I recently heard of someone who had had a minor accident, but it had left them in too much pain to allow them to drive to work. Therefore, rather than take the day off work sick, they intended to work from home. However they were informed that as they couldn’t work from home as they would be “doped up on pain killers“.

You might think this is fair enough, however let me ask you this, if the person requesting to work from home had simply requested to do so for some reason other than their pain, would their manager ever have known they would be working from home while “doped up on pain killers”?

What about those who work, who are in pain, and are “doped up on pain killers’, are their managers quick to stop them working just because they’re on pain killers?

You may think anyone who is on pain killers shouldn’t be working as they can’t possibly be operating at their true level, and therefore their work must be suffering. But can we really be that sweeping with this response? I’d suggest not, as everyone is different. Speaking for myself, I know I am on prescription pain killers and therefore would probably be deemed to be “doped up on pain killers” while I’m at work, but I’d suggest that majority of the time, most people around me at work are completely unaware that I’m struggling or that I’m even in any kind of physical pain.

So basically I’m saying that just because one person can’t work while in pain or “doped up on pain killers”, it doesn’t mean everyone is this same.

We all have different pain tolerance levels.

We all cope with pain differently.

Our bodies all cope differently with pain medication.

Just another little reminder for you today not to judge someone’s ability to cope while in pain or on pain killers, because of their own experiences, as we are all different, and we call cope differently with pain medication.

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