good week

Well after last weeks excitement I'm glad to report this was a very quiet week. We got along at work and I had no issues with anyone else all week long. This has given me a new appreciation for seeing things from another persons viewpoint. She was kind and sociable with me all week long because of my actions to rectify the misunderstanding. If only I could take this with me forever now. I've done it once successfully so now I wold like to repeat my problem solving skills to all my hard situations that I manage to get myself into. The calmer I stayed the easier It was to come up with the solution. So now when I find myself struggling with an application I have new tools at my disposal to fall back on and think things through more effectively. We've been talking about perspectives a lot lately and it is a recurring theme with good reason. It has really opened my eyes to a new way of problem solving.
We do not live in a perfect world and I will probably lose my cool again or say something to offend but I can react better without losing my cool so quickly. realizing our mistakes and then admitting our mistakes goes a long way to mending fences with others. The hardest is eating all that humble pie. Putting others ahead is not always easy but well worth the reward in the long run. Take care everyone.
Sifu Jeannette Langner

update

This is the results from last nights encounter at work. I pulled her off to the side to apologize and she accepted my apology. I told her I would do better to share more of the information with her and try not to do that to her again. What I learned from all this is how this forum really helped me keep it in perspective. I usually react with a lot of emotion and it always goes bad for me. This time I kept my cool and did not push the issue when she was clearly mad at me. We had 2 days to calm down and I saw my mistake and I feel like a better person for having resolved it in this manner.
This then translates very well to my kung fu. Patience is very important when it come to the overall view of our training. Had I not remained calm this could have blown up like it usually does for me. Not this time though. I stayed focused put the issues out there. Saw my participation in the argument and determined the steps needed to resolve the matter.
I usually spend days with an upset stomach when I have an altercation like this and beat myself up pretty good on my part in these situations however this time I am fine. Thank you one and all for letting me vent my feelings in this manner. I have truly grown this weekend for the better and I owe it all to blogging.
Sifu Jeannette Langner

Empathy

I had an interesting night at work. I was told to do some stacking while my partner would load the trucks and do the unloads. Now from my perspective this made sense to me however I wasn't able to communicate this to my partner effectively. She was very upset with me because of my lack of communication. I was unable to resolve this because she was no longer talking to me. So I went over in my mind the conversations we had and I am starting to see how I made a mistake. She was not present for my talk with the supervisor so was not made aware of the goals for the evening. I did not communicate with her effectively enough to clear up this misunderstanding. She spent the rest of the night upset with me and did not talk with me further. What I should have done was make myself clearer on our instructions from the supervisor so she would have know the same goals as I knew them to be.
Going forward from here I have to have another conversation with her and clear the air so she knows why I made the decisions I did that night. I knew she was mad so did not antagonize her until she was able to cool down. It did not happen last night so I'll have to wait for Tuesday to give it another try. By blogging about this It has helped me see the part I played in our misunderstanding. I usually beat myself up over these disagreements but I now see the argument in a clearer light. I did not communicate all the information I had with her and because of this she was offended by what looked to her as a lack of empathy i did not have for her. The silence was our saving grace so as not to further offend each other with harsh words that are not needed.Now I need to go to her and explain further the miscommunication we had so I can work with her again.
Thank you for letting me share this with you all. I hope this makes me better at communicating with people because I did not mean to offend her yet I did. So my bad I will try to do better in the future and watch my words more carefully.
Sifu Jeannette Langner