Tempting Fate

Photo by Casey Horner 

A fortnight ago I wrote about the privilege of going on a school camp and the fact that even though it left me well behind with other important work, I didn’t care – it was worth it.

Sitting here 14 days later, I’m reflecting that I may have tempted fate with a such a cavalier statement. Because a few hours after the post, I started feeling a little ‘average’ and things deteriorated from there. Yes, I finally brushed shoulders with the virus we all wish would go away, and got sick. As the ‘last man standing’ amongst our staff, I didn’t exactly feel invulnerable, but had given up worrying about the possibility months ago. Yet there I was.

I’ve been back at work this week but my ability to get things done is way down. Those of you who’ve been where I am will understand, those who have had a very light dose will hopefully be grateful, and those who are sitting where I was previously (untouched!), might want to ignore this.The bottom line is that I just can’t get through the stuff I need to.

Those around me are helpful and understanding which makes me very happy, but the truth is people still want to know what their job will look like next year, budgets need to be written, new families need attention, other people get sick too, strategic plans need to be reviewed, . . .

.   .   .

Two themes have bounced back into my mind as I scramble to get through this difficult period – I need to be clear about “what matters most” and I need to accept “good enough”.

We’ve written about both these topics before, and I encourage you to take the 5 minutes to read them if you haven’t (link to What Matters Most, link to Good Enough), but in a nutshell –

What matters most?

People.

Simple, emphatic, and true. I can’t get through everything that has piled up around me so I need to swallow hard and choose the tasks that directly relate to people. In my fuzzy state that is something to hang onto.

Good enough

Never has this concept been more important to me. Like many leaders I like to set the bar high, it gives me personal satisfaction to do things as well as I can. But that luxury is not possible right now, I need to accept that ‘good enough’ is exactly that.

Footnote: Life right now is reminding me how critical having energy is. Obviously being sick is an energy vampire but what about poor sleep, lack of exercise, continual stress . . . I miss my energy and on the other side of this current debacle I’m going looking for even more.

Dave