This is hard for some people and I am no exception.  I have learned the hard way how to do a better job of this.  I have had my job for 17+ years and I love my job [95% of the time].  I think that’s a good percentage.  Not everyone can say that about their jobs.  I have been blessed with great bosses and co-workers.  We become more like a team or family, if you will.

My issues usually come into play when I get too emotionally involved in something.  It tends to cloud my judgment.  I can no longer see the big picture, just the one picture playing over and over in my mind.  I take things too personally.  Now we all want to be emotionally involved with our jobs don’t we?  What kind of employee’s would we be if we didn’t FEEL things, care deeply about things and strive to make things better?  Well I can tell you what kind of employee we would be, but that would be a topic for another day.  However, there is a fine line that I have learned to walk here.  Yes I am passionate about my job.  You could say that part of what I do every day is my “passion”.  It’s what Oprah tells us we need to be doing, “find your passion”.  I’m almost there.  I’m working at it every day and on those days that I’m focused on it, it is fantastic!

What I have learned is to look at the bigger picture, learn to play the game even.  There are lots of things that I have NO control over.  Actually MOST things I have no control over.  Sometimes my employment takes me in a direction I don’t want to go, but may be better in the long run or maybe not.  Not my call.  Sometimes I get a new boss before I’m ready for the old one to leave.  This has happened to me three times and I know when the one I have now moves on, I’ll feel the same way.  You get emotionally attached to these people you work with every day, you work hard for them, you want them to look good, you want your employer to look good.  You ask yourself, what can I do to make that happen?  Well what I can do is look at the bigger picture and play the game.

What I have noticed over the last several years is that I am a much better member of the team when I can keep the bigger picture in mind.  When I have tunnel vision, it’s not a good thing.   When I feel myself getting wound up over something, I have to take a step back and think.  I ask myself, what is the bigger picture here, how should I response and more importantly, how should I NOT respond.  If at any time my response to a situation can make not only my employer look bad or worse, make me look bad, I don’t need to go down that road.  Take a step back, take a deep breath, stick that chin out and look at the bigger picture.