There’s an elephant in the room in my office and nobody wants to acknowledge it! I mean my leaving. All this week my co-workers, including Big B are ignoring the fact that I will be leaving at the end of the month. I don’t think my co-workers don’t know, there are too many things that I was involved with that I am no longer doing, which should have been their biggest clue. But everyone is pretending that things are normal. On Friday, one of my co-workers, ironically, the newest, actually came up to me when there was no one around and asked the question that others, who’ve been here longer, should have asked.
There’s a team drinking activity that’s was supposed to happen in February, but which kept being postponed for some reason or the other and is now scheduled for my last week here. I wasn’t very keen for a myriad of reasons, the main being the fact that I don’t drink much and prefer not to drink with colleagues and so I was not planning to go. Earlier in the week, one of my co-workers alluded to it and said I should try to make it. I am not sure, why out of the blue she suggested this. If this is going to be my ‘going away’ do, then I wish they come out and say. In that case, yes, I’d love to go, otherwise, I am still so very ambivalent!
The week was bittersweet as I did the last batch of something I really look forward to doing each quarter. I’ve not mentioned to anyone in that job I am leaving, so it felt bad to tell them I will speak to them again. Anyways!!!
I am going to spend the next two weeks clearing my desk and sorting stuff. I also want to make drafts of my farewell notes to people. But I don’t think all this will take up so much of time, need to find things to do this week.
I wrote about GG’s performance yesterday and we really had a good time there. Though it ended quite late, it was fun!
Onward to a new week, need to keep smiling so my last impression is a good one! Happy week folks…
I’m currently reading Ariana Huffington’s book ‘Thrive’ and though I’m only a third into the book, the chapter on mindfulness and meditation resonates with me.
My version of mindfulness is just before I fall asleep. I am not the sort of person, who as soon as my head hits the pillow, I fall asleep. I usually take between 10-15 minutes on a good say to fall asleep and this is when I reflect and recreate my day as well as see where I was wrong and try to re-do that experience. It’s only those admittedly rare days when I am so exhausted that I do go into a deep sleep as soon as my head hits the pillow that these reflections are not done. In between, I’ve tried to meditate, but I find that I do not have the disciple to do it on a daily basis.
Someone who practices mindfulness and meditates on a regular basis is someone who is more satisfied with life, someone who knows and accepts what life brings to them and becomes fully engaged with the ‘now’, rather than the ‘later’. This ability helps cushion you against the adversities that life will inevitably bring to you.
The best way to do this is to find a time of the day when you can practice on a regular basis and stick to that. I prefer doing this just before bed, some people prefer doing this first thing in the morning, but it should be your call. Choose a relatively quiet place where you will not be interrupted as well as bombarded by stimuli. Relax your body and mind. You can close your eyes if that helps or you can focus your attention on an object or image. Take deep and confortable breaths and focus your attention on how you breathe. Your mind will start to wander and when it does, gently bring it back to the present. Having something to focus on like a chant or an image helps in this. I also like to keep a timer on my phone for the initial days when I know I can’t focus too much. Start small, maybe 2-3 minutes initially, gradually moving up the time you mediate and be mindful to as long as you can.
Memories and Such 