My Thoughts

  Apathy in Workplace by Stacci Slayton Hamilton

Do things ever work out for people?  I mean, do people actually get things they plan for, try for, hope for?  Because in my experience that is not the reality.  My plans never seem to happen the way I foresee or the way I want them to.  Consistently, I "roll with the flow".  Every plan I make doesn't happen by any of my parameters.  Surprisingly, it all turns out ok.  I can handle it. Today I had a very definite plan of what would happen - where I would go, what would happen when I got there what time I would leave and go to the next thing.  I have one late start day a week at work, so I can take care of some business matters in those three hours.  Not today. Needless to say I'm "rolling with the flow". I am handling the fact that my plans did not happen the way I needed them to happen.  It is characteristic of my life right now. I make a plan, and the plan doesn't happen.  I just make do with what I have on hand.  I know I'm good at it, bu

I had a professional development for two hours in the library yesterday morning,and I was kind of distracted by all the books on the shelf.  Remembering my first impression of a library so many years ago and thinking about how my love of books has grown over the years, I decided to record some thoughts about it all. Austin has an amazing library system, and you can get books electronically delivered to your reading device; or you can have books delivered to your nearest location from any other location in the city. With millions of different books available, I really have just had a revival of going to the library in the last couple of years.  It's thrilling. I read The Book Thief  recently.  One of the attractions for me to the book and then the movie was this young girl's desire, this almost unquenchable thirst, for books.  As her story played out in Nazi Germany, I could remember my own feelings sometimes that books were forbidden to me. I love looking at books on sh

Day 4 of my "no refined sugar or wheat" experiment.........today is proving a bit more difficult than I want to admit.  Sugar.....my drug of choice.  What this means is that I have to literally change everything about my consumption habits.  And I mean everything. Admittedly, the hardest part will be for Whitney.  She has only asked for some sugar based food about a dozen or so times.  As I made the sweet tea, she had to pause to tell me she wanted her own pitcher of sweetened tea and explained how to make 2 pitchers of tea.  So so so funny. I had to take blueberries to my blood donation because all the blood bank offers is sugar and wheat products.  At the grocery store, I had to consistently return items to the shelf because in the ingredient somewhere was wheat, oat or sugar.  While Whitney had a sandwich, I made meat and cheese roll-ups with a cup of broccoli cheddar soup.  And I do not like unsweetened tea, but I was tired of drinking water. Enough complaining.  My

This week I had one of those wonderful teachable moments when work mates were discussing our work holiday for the 4th of July.  Many of my work mates are from Mexico and are so unaware of what the holiday means.  Having some knowledge of Mexican history helped as I explained that Diesiseis de Septiembre is the equivalent of the 4th of July.  I guess I could've just kept my mouth shut, but really??  This is the birthday of all that I believe in.........my independence, my heritage, my pride in the sacrifice of so many before me. So, the American Revolution...............the quintessential rebellious nature that defines so much of our American heritage.  When the colonists had enough of the rules and regulations that deprived them of basic liberties, they made a decision that would have cost them their lives if they lost.  They knew this, but did it anyway.  Think of the Alamo.  Think of "Lone Survivor".  I guarantee that the initial spirit of those rebellious colonists

Beware prayers..............seriously. Not to make light of prayer because I believe in the power of prayer, but I was given some information yesterday that sorta shook me out of complacency.  I have been praying for years for help in my fight against my extra weight.  As long as my blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar levels have been good, I have arrogantly been able to prolong the serious discussion about loosing weight and working out. I can provide the correct answers when asked................a healthy life includes exercise and healthy eating, but I have been unable to walk the talk.  The reasons are deeply personal and numerous, reasons I have shared with very few.  I, like many others, am a creature of denial, and I have known for a long time that the only way I'd truly get my act together would be at the benefit of my own health. It's a truly dangerous arrogance here.....................pushing myself to the point of poor health, living in denial.  It is a pa

Apathy……….it’s my word for the day. Lack of interest, enthusiasm or concern. It’s the word that describes my passive/aggressive reaction to events at work today, so I wanted to explore a bit more about what it was, what causes it and most importantly, how to get rid of it.   Most of the articles I read said avoidance of it is the best way to not have it.   Further, lots of discussion also centered on the numbers of employees who exhibit it.   Many of the articles also talked extensively about foundational leadership principles used in the management of or avoidance of workplace apathy.   I, as an employee, someone who wants to feel engaged and empowered in her life, need to know what I can do to be engaged and empowered.   I need to feel that I have the power to exact change in my immediate situation.   Further, I want to learn how to combat the effects of apathy, not necessarily apathy itself.   You see, I know I am pretty apathetic when it comes to others.   I also know the