My Way

One of Frank Sinatra's biggest hits is the song "My Way". Many things in life do not have a right or wrong way. They can be accomplished in many different ways, each one being correct. If the way they are done leads to a good ending, how can the method be criticized? Does the toilet paper roll pull from the top down or the bottom up? Does an omelette get flipped over or does it get cooked slowly until it is solid? Do we heat pizza with the tin foil open or closed? Do towels get folded in half or in thirds? There are no answers for these pressing questions. There is no better or worse way. If the method is admonished you can just say, "I did it my way."

Never Too Late

Yesterday I saw a short video clip from one of my old research assistants from work. It was the final moments from the view of a plane window, before his plane touched down in Hawaii. There were many comments saying congratulations. I was curious as to why he was now in Hawaii, so I contacted him. He was in Hawaii to do the final year of his psychology internship before he gets his PhD. Normally this would be a great story but the complete story shows how it is never too late to follow your dream. About six years ago, a man walked into my office and said that he was the new research assistant. Normally the assistants are 20 years old and are there to get experience so they can apply to graduate school. They are not paid as it is a volunteer position. This man was 42 years old. He was a cameraman for major television shows and commercials. He went back to school, got his degree and completed his first internship. Hawaii is his final step before becoming a doctor. I give him so much credit for following his dream.

Party Planner

I am usually the party planner at work. We all decide on the menu and I do the ordering. I also do the set up. Tomorrow one of the front desk girls is leaving. She will begin a PhD program and has no time for anything else. My boss wanted to be involved in the party planning and had some ideas for a nice meal. I was not involved as when too many "cooks" are discussing, it gets messy. Tomorrow is the party. My boss is stuck in a third world country. I think that everyone is assuming I will be taking care of things and that is not the case. If I ask my nasty receptionist what is going on, she will use her daily phrase, "Don't know, don't care". I do not plan to say a word. When tomorrow comes and nothing has been done, I will call down the block for three pizzas.

Signs or Coincidences

Are there really signs from our deceased loves ones or are there just coincidences that we turn into signs? I believe in signs and no one can tell me otherwise. If they did, it would just be their opinion as no one will ever know the answer, at least not while we are here on earth. I was at a family celebration yesterday and for a fleeting moment, I could not wait to get home to call my mother and tell her about it. It was a thought or maybe a familiar feeling, that lasted a nano second, where I forgot that she was no longer here. Once my mind was back to the present, I felt bad that she would never know about the wonderful day. When the event was over, I got into my car to leave. As we pulled away, on the windshield was a tiny bee, right in front of my eyes. It was walking up and down, almost like it was trying to get my attention. My husband never noticed it as it was only in my line of vision. This has happened twice before. Once was when my husband had surgery and I was eating dinner alone, a bee appeared on my food and walked up and down then flew away. The next time was when I was driving back to Long Island with my father. The bee sat directly in my line of vision and rode with us for miles, looking into the car. Prior to her death, I had never had any encounters with bees. I would have remembered one, as a bee usually frightens people and when we see one we take notice. I truly believe that the bee yesterday was a sign from my mother saying that she did in fact see what was going on. I wear a glass bee around my neck and her name was Bea. Sign or coincidence?    

Bad Judgement

Judgement comes from experience, so why do people have bad judgement when they know the previous outcome of a situation? My boss has an elderly mother. Two months ago they traveled to Florida to visit family. The mother felt sick, went to the emergency room and stayed in bed for most of the trip. They made the trip home and my office was relieved. Knowing that this situation happened, how could my boss book a trip to a foreign country for her and her mother? The week prior to leaving, her mother was at the doctor almost every day. She was not feeling well and had many tests. In their infinite wisdom and terrible judgement, they kept their plans and flew half way across the world. What do you think happened? She got sick and has been in the hospital for the last week with infections, congestive heart failure and pneumonia. My boss has to remain there with her indefinitely. This morning I got an email asking if Medicare will pay for any of these expenses. No, it won't. We all warned her not to travel with her mother, but her bad judgement overruled our good judgement.

Drive

Does your mind posses an idea or does an idea posses your mind? I call an idea that possesses your mind a driving force. Everyone has thoughts and plans, but many times they never come to fruition. When a thought gets so entwined in your brain that it is all you can think of, things usually get done. Most successful people have been working on their success for years. It was not fleeting. Their idea came into their mind and would not leave. It possessed it. The only way to drive it out was to do the task that was asked of it. That is what I mean by driving force.

No. It is a complete sentence with only one word.  I proved that yesterday for one of my employees. A new girl has been working for us for six months. We see great potential in her and decided to train her for a more administrative position. Along with that comes a raise. The promotion idea started with her asking for a raise and if she did not get one she was giving 2 weeks notice. She is 33 years old, a college graduate and very smart. She took the job for a small salary. More than minimum wage on Long Island, but less than minimum wage in the city. She saw potential here and gave it six months. If there was no movement in responsibilities she was moving on. My boss agreed that she would be a good addition to our management team in the future. I asked the girl what her salary requirement was and she told me. It was reasonable. After much discussion, the co-director talked with her and told her she was moving up. She would get a small raise to train and another raise after 6 weeks. The girl reluctantly agreed because she did not feel comfortable arguing about the salary. She called me up to tell me that she felt upset about the two step raise as we know her work ethic, and she was insulted. I called the co-director and told her that the plan she presented was not good. She said she thought it was fine. I said, "No". One word. She knew I was serious about this so she said, "Okay, the girl will get the full raise as of Monday". One word, one sentence, one positive outcome.