Seeking Meaning, Finding Answers

Riding the Roller Coaster
The weekend is winding down, and I am preparing ((mentally and physically)) for another busy work week. By Sunday evening, I find that I am just starting to relax, but unfortunately, it's already time to rev up the mental processes again -- I have checked my office emails via iPhone, for example!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not sure what I would do without the complex mental challenges that work provides for me, but the last year and a half have been especially taxing ((insert deep sigh here))! The Energizer Bunny is still hopping along, but her sparkle is all battery power, with no soul.

Team of One
With a pared down team at our office, there is nowhere for slackers to hide, no ability to dodge bitterness or moody behaviour and no opportunity to call a life line to catch a breather. We each have to hold our own and every minute of every day is jam packed. There is little margin for error and any minor flubs are compounded into global disaster sized reactions, as every bit of business is so critical to our viability.

On the up side, there is something exciting about having to perform in this way -- like Survivor contestants we are pushed to be resourceful and creative in the way we approach our days.

What I wonder is whether this pared down trend will pass, or if this is the way I will be forced to work for the rest of my life? I am concerned by a number of characteristics that I see with clients, colleagues and suppliers in my industry.

1) Denial: "Oh, no -- our revenues aren't down, in fact the opposite is true..."

2) Rudeness; impatience

3) A general lack of appreciation -- in my book, "Thank you" is not optional

4) Accountability and ethics

We're all somebody's baby...
This has been a surreal year for global strife and calamity: Haiti, floods and fires in North America, the horrific British Petroleum off shore oil well disaster, etc. etc. In my city there is terrible child poverty, abuse and neglect -- much of it focused in our aboriginal population. As a loving mother, I wish I could take them all in, feed them warm and nutritious meals and hold them in my arms. On the other hand, there is a huge boom in infrastructure construction -- a new airport, the Museum for Human Rights, a new United Way headquarters, executive homes in posh new developments and pricey riverside condos. The
contrast between the haves and have-nots is becoming more vivid.

And in the midst of this confusion, all I have is "Me" -- my Creator tells me that is enough, but I want to do more, be more, achieve more, because it's the right thing today, because we all deserve to worry a little less and live with some comfort and joy. So off I go, road weary but determined to pour my love and goodness out -- universally, without prejudice and until I do not have another drop to give.