If you happened to pass by my cubicle at work, more times than not you'd probably think I'm pretty organized. Everything is in its place - financial records, risk management forms, and a myriad of other types of paper documentation. Pens and highlighters are arranged in the drawer. Then there's my book collection on my shelf, perfectly arranged behind my Starbucks mug collection. Everything is neat and tidy.
There are times that I find myself cleaning and organizing a LOT during the workday. When I don't know how to handle an interpersonal relationship that's on rocky waters, I sort my file folders. When I need to return phone calls, I find myself straightening my pens. When I can't figure out why my $120,000 budget won't balance, I re-organize my photos of family and friends on the wall behind my chair. My home office is no different. There's a place for everything, and everything is in its place. Especially when I'm trying to avoid my roommate, or avoid making financial phone calls, or family phone calls... or any phone calls... When circumstances of my life are out of my control, I grasp at any sense of order wherever I can get it. A neatly organized closet. Alphabetized movies in the DVD drawer. A color-coded bookshelf in the living room. If I can't control my coworkers, or my roommate or my boss, I find things I can control. Sometimes my desire to sort, straighten or standardize (Can you name the other two S's?) comes out of my inability to make a decision. What's the next step to take on that project that has stalled out? How do I find that error in my budget that is preventing it from balancing? I don't know. So I'll re-organize something to make me feel productive in the midst of the unknown. Lack of control is hard to deal with. Ambiguity is annoying. Learning to move beyond them, or to tackle them head on, is a process and something I'm working on this year. How do you deal with uncontrollable or ambiguous situations?
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Amy WellnerEncouraging others to intentionally live out their God-given identity. Archives
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