Grin and Bare It

Now I've written the title, I'm not sure if it should be 'bear' or 'bare', how annoying!

Just having one of those days where over and over in my mind (albeit now with a question mark on the spelling) goes the words "just grin and bare it", "think of England" blahdy blah blah.

You know when you have someone say something to you and your instant thought is "I could just smash you in the face with a tennis racket right now"?  (well I hope someone knows, eek or I'm a tad whacky!)

I try to bite my tongue most times when I could easily let fly, and I'm usually successful.

Today after being the recipient of a out of line comment (don't want to get into details as this could turn into War & Peace) I just had to get out of harms way so to speak, instead of launching a tennis racket or a tirade, I said "I just have to head out for a bit", got in my car and drove for an hour, leaving my work mobile on my desk.

(photo source)

I have just Googled 'one of those days' and one of the first links was

http://www.organizeit.co.uk/2008/05/26/having-one-of-those-days-heres-how-to-deal-with-it/

their advice is below and I'm happy to see I actually did alot of the things they suggest, without really thinking about it (my comments in green):

• Take a breather
  Get away from it all. Disconnect the phone, turn off the computer. Heck, lock yourself in a cupboard if you can’t get away from work. Give yourself a chance to clear your head and gain some perspective. You can’t get hold of your day if you don’t give yourself a chance to regain control. One or two unfortunate events will effect your mood which can ultimately cause things to spiral if you don’t take a step back
• Yay I actually did this, I got in the car without the work mobile, hit the road, music up loud, singing & yelling alternatively
• Work out what the problem is
  What makes you think you are having one of those days? Was it the moody customer who shouted at you? Have you been inundated with work because two of your staff are off sick? Having one of those days will put you in a bad mood. It’s important to know exactly what the cause is so you can do something about it.
• Oh I know what the problem is!!  Don't get me started!
• Shit happens…
  There is a logical, rational reason for everything. You might not directly cause it but it’s there all the same. If a customer gives you a hard time because another department didn’t do its job properly, that’s unfortunate. But these things do happen. If you’re dwelling on it while hiding in the cupboard, tell yourself you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
• Yes shit does happen, but when shit keeps happening it's NOT wrong place wrong time!  Well actually it is, wrong job wrong time perhaps?
• …but could I have done something about it?Things happen that ruin our day which are out of our control, but there also things that, in hindsight, we could have  influenced or can yet gain some control over. Could you perhaps have dealt with the rude customer a little better? Can you defer or delegate the workload till the absent staff return? Take the lessons from the experience now so it doesn’t mess up another day in the future.
• Not really, out of the blue comment that was so (A) untrue, (B) not needed, (C) hurtful
• Treat yourself and move on
  Rationalizing and being proactive will help you to smooth out the whole unpleasantness but if it fixed your entire day you wouldn’t be having one ofthose days in the first place. Take lessons from the experience and try and get through the rest of the day. Treat yourself by going for retail therapy, having a nice meal or watching a film, if it helps. Then get to sleep. You will almost certainly feel much better the next day.
• Yay I actually did this too, on my hour long drive I bought myself a bottle of poison, well not really poison, Ice Break, same/same really, as I'm on a pre-wedding diet, and good old Ice Break is not my friend!
• Don’t live in a bubble
  A boxer will never be successful if he just runs around the ring avoiding his opponent’s blows. Likewise you will never get anywhere if you are not willing to take the knocks and blows  that life will all to readily dish out. You may feel like hiding in your shell when the day turns against you, but resist that urge, it’s not an habit you want to slip into. Shake it off and get back in the fight.
• Again something I've done to a degree, I have requested some info on a course to change career.  I'm not really shaking off the comment cause I'm still quite pissed at it and the commenter, but I'm back in the ring of my career if you know what I mean.  Don't they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result?  Well my info request is the start of changing what I'm doing to hopefully get a different result!

That's my whinge quota full for a while, so I'll sign off :)   Tomorrow is Friday, woohoo!!!!!!!

Till next time,