Kind Words

I find it amazing what a few kind words can do.

Any of you that know me personally know that I am a pretty confident person. I am generally in a good mood and I try my best not to let the pressure of life get me down. Last week was a good week for the most part.

The last few hours I was on-site I was thrown a few issues that really knocked me for a loop. I am generally good at puzzles and it drives me crazy when I have a problem I can’t solve quickly. I had already made plans to have my taxes done on my short weekend, and I have another client that I have work stacking up on that needed my attention. My mind was going so much I could not sleep the night before flying home (and I had to get up at 3AM).

Friday morning I woke up wondering if I was cut out to do my job. It was one of those times when doubt sneaks in and starts messing with the mind. It was funny because just that morning a dear friend of mine Sue had read a bunch of my blogs. She pointed out on one of the my blogs the last line of a song I had wrote about “and there’s nothing I can’t do” and said that fit my personality. That comment alone was timely and made me get off my pity pot.

The client site I’m working at is a place anyone should be happy to work for. The positive forces you feel there are just amazing. They are going through some struggles changing from one outsourced data center to another. So you have employees from four companies working together and sometimes apart.

A few weeks back they had a go-live on several products at the same time. The stress levels were high and people were quick to snap. This is something I’ve done for over 10 years now so I’m used to it and find it easier to roll with the punches and not get over excited.

It must have worked in my favor because the CIO sent the nicest complement to our account manager (that went 4 levels above me in the company). Basically she said that there was someone out here doing an outstanding job that needed to be recognized. The Friday of that go-live week when I was coming home there was a flood of positive e-mails in my mailbox from people who had no idea who I was before that day. What a way to end a week.

I have got out of my “feeling sorry for myself” mood after a very short weekend at home. I am learning lessons constantly in life. This week was just another of those weeks that make me better by teaching me lessons.

I need to remind myself to pay more complements to others. They are easy to give and they can do so much good.