-
Passion.
Merriam-Webster defines passion as an “intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction.” I don’t really like this definition. I can have intense feelings of happiness or sadness or anger or any other emotion. I feel like passion is more encompassing, but I’m not sure of what. You always hear motivational and inspirational speakers tell you to “Find your passion.” Like, what does that even mean? 🤷🏻♀️ Why don’t they say “Find what you love?” or “Find what makes you happy?” What is it about passion that sets it apart? I’ve had a lot of jobs in a lot of different industries. But it wasn’t until I started working in farming that I truly began to understand what “find your…
-
Disappointment.
The underlying theme for disappointment is unmet expectations. How true is that when you really think about it? When I’m disappointed in myself, I am usually left questioning, “What did I do wrong? How could I have done better?” When I’m disappointed in someone else, I’m usually left wondering, “If he would only…” 🙄 It’s harder for me to be disappointed in other people than it is to be disappointed in myself. At least when I haven’t met my own expectations, I can reflect to see if I laid my head and my heart on the line (logic and emotion). If I didn’t, I know to do better and can take steps toward improvement. Other people, well…it seems a lot of other people…
-
Burn-Out.
Did you know that burn-out is classified as an “occupational phenomenon” in the International Classification of Diseases by the World Health Organization (WHO)? It’s in a section describing factors that influence a person’s health without being an illness or injury. Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life. It’s a syndrome (associated symptoms of opinions, emotions, and behavior) essentially brought to fruition from the unsuccessful management of chronic workplace stress. It is characterized by three dimensions: Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; Increased mental distance from one’s job or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; Reduced professional…
-
Empathy.
I have a colleague that made a big mistake. Because of our roles and responsibilities within the company, I had to pick up the pieces of his fall-out. And I. was. pissed. about it. 😤 His poor judgment caused me additional stress and hours more of work. I made damn sure he knew all that I had to do to cover his ass. If I had to swoop in and rescue him, he was going to learn a lesson out of it. Now, he’s normally pretty up-to-snuff. After the dust settled a bit, I asked him how he was doing. Turns out, he took his mistake pretty hard. He felt terrible about it, guilty, and embarrassed. Additionally, he was going through a…
-
Trust.
I once saw a meme that said, “Dating is getting to know someone until you realize you don’t like that person anymore.” I mean, how true is that statement though? 😬 It’s kind of sad when you really think about it. You invest time, energy, and emotion in someone until you ultimately discover that person is not worth your time, energy, and emotion. There are a lot of great things about being single, don’t get me wrong. The freedom is undeniably one of the best aspects of it. But the dating part is hard. First, choosing the person you want to date. Not just anyone will set off the “cascade of hormones and…
-
Appreciation.
Life has been an uphill climb lately. And yeah, I’ve been complaining. It’s natural, right? 😬 But I also recognize that you don’t reach a peak of the mountain without first walking through the valley. For the past 4 months, it has literally been one thing after another, and it’s taken me on an emotional roller coaster. There have been essentially 7 significant events that have each taken me down a notch (or several). While I’ve been able to lean on people who care about me for support, there is still something missing that’s left me feeling unfulfilled. So, I’ve been doing what I do: completely analyzing these situations to find the root of what has…