Tag: life

Today’s coping tip is to notice what you are feeling without any judgment.

Today I’m stressed. I have been traveling a bit and trying to work remotely from my normal remote work at home. I’ve been in hotels, airplanes, airports, and elsewhere getting things done.

I’m also looking forward, and still have a number of trips. I’m in London today, heading to Venice for a few days of holiday, but then I’m back in London for work, then off to Boston next week, with Toronto, Seattle, perhaps London again.

This is both normal and expected, and hard. I get into these situations where a number of things get scheduled in short order, but I know that I’ll get through it and it’s not too much. I’ve been watching the schedule, and there are some downtimes, but this stretch of late Sept through Oct is tough.

I’m not making decisions or regretting things, just accepting the busy, stressful time and working through it. One day at a time.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQL Server Central 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 coping tip is to ask a trusted friend to tell you what strengths they see in you.

On one hand this would seem easy. On the other, it feels very narcissistic. That means for me, this is tough to do. They might say something I didn’t expect, or not appreciate something I think I do well.

A conundrum, but I’m taking a chance. I’m asking someone I know well what they think are the characteristics of me that are positive and useful. Here’s what I got back:

• Someone who is analytical
• Someone who gets things done
• I bring people together
• I can flex when needed
• Good technical and business IQ
• Not afraid to fail
• Doesn’t need oversight
• Passionate
• Gives good hugs

I particularly like the last one.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQL Server Central 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 coping tip is to leave positive messages for yourself to see regularly.

I could use post-its, or something else, but something that has worked well for me with these coping tips throughout the pandemic is make a short meeting in my calendar. It’s a good way to have something pop up on my phone/laptop with a note.

Here are a few repeating things I’m adding to my calendar (personal, not work), that aren’t taking up time, but just are reminders.

• I am getting better and better every day.
• I am having a positive and inspiring impact on the people I come into contact with.
• I am grateful for everything I have in my life.
• I am getting healthier every day.

These are good messages for me to remember. I’m repeating these some random number of days for 30 periods to see what I think.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQL Server Central 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 coping tip is to find a caring, calming phrase to use when you feel low.

Life is mostly good, but there are times I feel down, depressed, low, or sad. I’ve learned not to get too upset. If I start feeling off, sometimes I can stop things, sometimes not. I’m getting better, but often it’s my wife that helps reign me in.

However, when I saw this tip, I thought that maybe a mantra of sorts might help me. I’m picking one of my wife’s favorite sayings, which my kids also use.

“No babies are dying.”

It’s a good way to stop and keep things in perspective. If babies might be dying, then this is really important and I need to pay attention. If I’m just annoyed, upset, sad, etc., it’s helps me find perspective.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQL Server Central 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.