Didn't know I was such a wimp

One of the things I have always loved about living in St. Louis is that we really do get to experience four seasons. Well, enough already with this extremely cold weather and no sun!!!! I mean really what is the use of such cold temps if you don't have the mountains to go with them? The new president of Barnes-Jewish Hospital relocated here from San Diego and everyone keeps telling him that we have not had this kind of a long, severe cold snap in years. He just shakes his head and says -- "Sure." I could probably handle the cold, if we could just get more than a nanosecond of sun. Could I be suffering from seasonal affective disorder? Or, am I just a wimp?
On the plus side, the cold has made me a bit more productive as I have retreated to my desk. I have caught up on reading and research projects that were hanging over me like one of those little bubble word clouds over the heads of cartoon characters. It really does feel good to be able to check things off the list (and I learned a lot that will help as several new initiatives get launched).
Speaking of new, I had the pleasure of discovering another great new restaurant this week when I had a one on one staff member luncheon. Truly, these opportunities are becoming one of the favorite parts of my job. I enjoy getting to know the people on the team even better. What they love, their hobbies, their families, what energizes them about working for BJC and their ideas for how we can do what we do even better. I know I must sound like a broken record on this, but my goal is that we are continually providing excellent service to our clients and one of the best ways of getting better is by developing new ideas.
On the flip side of the broken record is my encouragement to engage in a learning & development opportunity. You never know what you will encounter that will be of great benefit. I attended part of a seminar yesterday and a speaker shared something that will stay with me -- Don't let what you want most be compromised by what you want at the moment. There are all kinds of great applications for that bit of advice -- in all of the settings of our life. Of course, when I shared the words with my husband (and got a little teary eyed at how sharing these words with our adult children could be really helpful as they strike out in life), he said -- Hmmn, interesting, but you are such a wimp.