Lately, I have been a proponent of allowing all feelings to be okay - especially in the workplace. A caveat to this, no violence or hurtful words. Violence, anger, and hurtful words are secondary reactions to a primary emotion. I cry quite a bit at work and am becoming more comfortable with it. I encourage tears during tough conversations in the safety of my office. I tell my coworkers that tears don't scare me and it's good for us to cry.
This last week I cried quite a bit. My coworker is moving out of state. I rely on her quite a bit. She has a fantastic job opportunity with more responsibilities and money. I don't know how to compete with that. I never set out to be a supervisor, let alone a Director of a department. It fell upon me. It has been one of the most challenging situations in my life. I love my team and have such great people who work with me; it makes my job much more manageable. I come from a relationships point of view much more than a business strategy perspective. I have learned much about strategy from my departing coworker. I will keep in touch with her and continue to pick her brain on the business world.
We have also had tremendous amounts of change at work. Several teammates have left for other opportunities. I miss them, and I'm gloomy at times.
There are days when I would enjoy winning the lottery, even if a small amount. I would take some time away from work and take a long cruise or travel to other countries.
