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Every Little Thing by April Jeppson

This week started out horribly. It didn’t matter how hard I tried, it felt like I was failing at every turn. You know that moment where you’re running late and your pocket gets caught on a door knob? Or you end up tripping over something and stubbing your toe. In your attempt to hurry up and not be late, you end up making yourself even later. It kind of felt like that.

I was talking to a friend on Monday and she could tell that I was “off.” She didn’t pry or tell me to snap out of it. She knows the sad truth that sometimes you can’t help your friends at all. Nothing you say or do will take away their struggles. She understood that sometimes the only thing you can do is just sit with them. Well, in this case she texted and sent me humorous memes.

I can attest that this helps.

I try to work hard every day, but rarely do I hear positive feedback about it. I don’t have a manager that assigns me tasks or gives me high-fives after a job well done. In general people usually talk to me when they have something to complain about. It’s the nature of my job.

It’s always a pleasant surprise when someone goes out of their way to tell me something good. Maybe they’ve noticed how much cleaner the building is.

Maybe they really like the new personal trainer I’ve hired. On Tuesday, it was pointed out to me that they could tell how much I care. Being that I was still feeling the weight of my responsibilities, these kind words almost brought me to tears.

I had a nice meeting with a gentleman this week. He exudes a certain calm confidence. He is in a role where he is criticized often and seems to take it all in stride. As I was asking him how he handles it, he said he goes into situations knowing that if someone doesn’t like him, it’s only because they don’t really know him yet. He believes that after they talk for a while, they will end the conversation as friends.

I like to think I’m that confident. As I was listening to him speak, I realized these last few days, I had lost my mojo. Well that’s simply not acceptable, so I need to go and get it back.

I do want to take a moment and thank everyone who has gone out of their way to share kind words with me. Whether an email offering help on a project, a compliment on my hair color or a funny meme that made you think of me. You probably didn’t even realize I was having a rough week, but your kindness was like a ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds.

Albert Lean April Jeppson is a wife, mom, coach and encourager of dreams. Her column appears every Saturday.