Yesterday a newsletter was passed around my department. In it, there were hints on how to “write with pizzazz” (no passive sentences, no abstract sentences, personalize, and so much more), how to deal with aggressive callers (politely stick to your guns (heh!), intercept unwanted callers tactfully, and establish clear guidelines with your boss), and how well we manage stress.

That one got me. I took the quiz. I know I’m a complete stress-aholic. I let little things get to me.

For instance, my supervisor is on vacation for two weeks and will be back next week. For the last week, one of the women in the department (we’re HR) has taken it upon herself to be the acting director (my boss is the HR Director). She is actually, hierarchically, lower than I am but she seems to act like she’s the boss when he’s gone. She takes 2 or 3 hour lunches, leaves early, comes in late, and stands around the halls talking (LOUDLY) while he’s away. Yesterday was the final straw. She came into my office and said, “Since you were sick last week, I need to sign off on your absence.” I looked at her with incredulous passivity (all that I could muster). I told her I would wait until my supervisor returned to sign my leave form. She walked out and I sat there wondering where some people get the cajones to do what they do.

I’ve stressed about it, though. Why would I do that? I mean…I know she’s like that. I know she twists things to make herself look better. I know she spends most of her time at work acting like a party-planner rather than an HR analyst (which is a fancy term to say that she handles the benefits – sometimes…when she feels like it…more often she tells employees that they can call and sort things out themselves because they’ll get the same answers she’d get anyway) that she is labeled. I know that I will be irritated by her just because of the different kinds of people we are and how we look at work.

I know all of this. And yet I stress over it. I let it get under my skin. I dwell on it and allow it to bother me to the point of where I want to scream and yell.

*taking a deep breath* Anyway, this article clearly stated that I “may find getting through days of unexpected problems or deadlines very challenging.” Ok…I’m really good with deadlines. I like that kind of pressure. It’s PEOPLE that I can’t handle. I don’t like most people. They IRK me. It also said that I “may feel “it’s a jungle out there” and have trouble letting go of the day’s problems when you get home.” Well, duh…I think I’ve already said that I have these issues.

So, this article gave some interesting advice.

  • Focus on what you can control. (Oh…THAT’S what I’m supposed to do? I thought I COULD control the rest of the world. *snort*)

  • Don’t invest major energy in minor problems. (Well, ok…this one I can actually work on…I do tend to do that.)

  • Tackle major stressors head on. (My passive-aggressive mannerisms won’t work for these situations???)

  • Ask for help. (Ok…I’ll make sure to ask Devil-woman for help…that will be rich and give her all the more to GLOAT over.)

  • Write it down. (And here I am…writing it down. )

So…I feel so much better now. Don’t you?

~~

I needed an exercise in futility and silliness, so I did one of those “quizzes.”

See which Greek Goddess you are.


~

When I was a young girl, the Nancy Drew novels opened up a whole new world of adventure for me that I will never forget. I loved that series of books and couldn’t wait to save enough to buy the next book in the series. I will always be grateful to this author for bringing me to a love of reading and an enthusiasm for adventure.

Mildred Wirt Benson (aka Carolyn Keene) died at the age of 96 after becoming ill at work Tuesday afternoon.