Voice of the DBA

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

Today’s tip is to do something small, but different today to make yourself smile.

I’ve been working on my diet and health this year, focusing on a better diet, smaller portions, etc. It’s been good in a few ways, I’ve lost weight, I cook more and try new things, which the family is enjoying. Just last night I made a French Onion Chicken Bake, which replaced the previous Chicken Souvlaki as a favorite for one of my sons. I also did Sarah Leah Chase’s Scalloped Tomatoes, a new recipe and everyone enjoyed it.

In general, I follow a fairly narrow diet well, and I’ve gotten used to being a bit hungry after the gym and driving home rather than getting a snack in town. Quick snacks are rarely healthy, and cutting them out has helped.

However, I came out of the gym the other day after a mid morning workout. I needed to run a few errands, and while stopping for a black coffee, I decided to treat myself and walk next door for a breakfast burrito. There’s a new shop that my wife and kids love, and I’ve stopped there a few times.

A small thing, and I made sure to adjust the rest of my day not to add a bunch of calories, but it was a nice treat for me.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

Today’s tip is to encourage or cheer on someone younger than you without opinions, suggestions, or teachings.

This is hard. As a parent, I often want to offer suggestions on how things could be better. As a coach, it’s my job.

However.

I find that sometimes it’s just good to sit back, cheer, and watch. No opinion, nothing other than “good job” or “great”. It’s what I tell parents to do when they watch their kids play on my team.

This is a time of year I get to do that. I usually go watch the kids that I’ll coach over the winter when they play in high school. No comments, no coaching, no “do this”, just “it’s great to see you play.”

I’ve learned they have plenty of things they wish they’d done better. I’ll give them things in a few months, but for now it’s just cheering and clapping.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

Today’s tip is to have a friendly chat with someone you don’t know well.

In general, I don’t chit chat or strike up conversations. I go through airports and on planes with headphones doing my own thing.

However, there are times I will start a conversation. Recently I was at the gym for volleyball activities. It’s a new place for me, and I don’t know many other coaches. A lot of them are younger, and they will look at their phones when nothing is going on. Like a lot of younger people. And older people as well.

I greeted someone and got a hi back. I could have dropped things, but I asked a couple questions, talked about plans for the day, and got them to open up a bit. While I am introverted, part of what I enjoy about coaching is time with other coaches, tackling a similar challenge. It was a nice 5 minutes chat before we went to work.