Today I was feeling pretty badly. Sore throat, achy muscles, possibly a fever. But I had to go to work. I know I’m supposed to stay home when I’m sick. I couldn’t today – too much to do, no time to do it. Bad practice – yes. Avoidable – yes, if I had known I wouldn’t feel well and had brought my computer home. I didn’t. So I went in.
And my sickness got worse throughout the day. My frustration and irritation was mounting.I hate being sick; I hate feeling sow and unproductive. Frankly, I just wanted to go home and crawl into bed.
I had a meeting after work with an entrepreneur whom I greatly admire – Melanie Notkin who started savvyauntie.com. (If you haven’t checked out the site or signed up for the newsletter, I strongly encourage you to do so!) She wrote a post on her blog recently asking for interns. She wanted help, exactly the help that aligns with my experience and interests, to build her brand. I love social media; she loves social media and she needs someone to work on that part of her business. I almost cancelled our meeting, or at least postponed it. I didn’t feel well. I was tired. And frankly, I arrived home with a very bad attitude. How could I go talk to this bright-eyed entrepreneur with this dark cloud hanging over my head? I went any way – it’s rude to cancel last minute. And we were meeting at a Starbucks around the corner from my apartment. So I put on my best actor smile, decided to be in a good mood, and then was in a good mood.
Thankfully I place a value on respect because I am thrilled that I didn’t cancel! I thought we’d meet for half an hour – we talked, non-stop for 2 and a half hours. By the end of our meeting I was on-board and excited about being an intern. An unpaid intern. Who would have thought?
Turns out I was sick, though I had misdiagnosed the cause. I felt deflated all day today. With savvyauntie, Melanie explained what she needed, I explained what I was interested in, and we found a common ground. And wouldn’t you know it – my sore throat went away, my muscles ached less, and my bad attitude had evaporated. I feel more motivated for every area of my life. And I’m pretty jazzed about my new project. More to come…
The photo above can be found at http://www.sme-performance.com/images/entrepreneur.jp
Christa Avampato 