Friday, March 4, 2011

Managing Change - Take 2

I know it's been a while since I posted anything, but things have been quite hectic at work, and I have been facing a new set of challenges related to change.  In buddhism they say that life will keep presenting you with the same challenges until you change that aspect of your karma.  Well, all I can say is, given how terrible I am at handling change, and what a pig's ear I made of it last year, now I am facing round 2 of this.
I changed roles at work and am extremely happy in my new position.  It is truly my dream job, as it allows me to combine my strengths, and poses a suitable intellectual challenge to make me jump out of bed every morning and thank the universe for finally having the job that makes me want to run to work.  So that is one change that I am really pleased to finally leave the wilderness for.
The next set of changes has brought with it insomnia.  I can't sleep at night and am now an exhausted zombie.  We are moving house - or at least we are moving from our flat to a town house.  This is more stressful than you can imagine, since there are all kinds of implications for both here and Switzerland.  Anyway, after weeks of trying to sort with all this, I finally feel that this is the start of something .....good.
So, as you may remember, when all this change happens, I usually stop running, revert to type and read a lot.  Well, this did not happen this time around, though I did watch a lot of telly.  Although I did not run as much as I would have liked to, run I did.  I also continued climbing stairs - this time hands free.  I can report that I can climb 1000 stairs in half an hour, completely hands free and I walk down rather than taking the lift.  I did not record my mileage on dailymile, but I have written it down.  Last year I had to forgo the Hyannis half marathon, this year it seems like I will not get to South Africa for my half marathon, as we will be moving over that period.  That was enormously disappointing, but there is next year.  Move on.  This is new to me - last year I allowed the disappointment of Hyannis to cloud my entire year and I could just not leave it behind me.  The period of disappointment was much shorter this time around, and I even signed up for two 5Ks (which I had no intention of doing).  
It is good to have these smaller more immediate goals, and I am going to revel in my training for them.  Yes, revel.  Enough of this wishy-washy attitude to running: disappointments happen, get over it.
I have not read any of your blogs in ages, but I am slowly going to start catching up.  I hope your training is going well, and see you in bloggie land.




12 comments:

  1. It's good to hear an update from you, girl.

    I'm thrilled to hear you are keeping up with the stairs.

    Take care of yourself. ::hugs::

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  2. è vero, le sfide si ripresentano finché non si passa oltre: anch'io ho enormi difficoltà a gestire un cambiamento che però avverto come indispensabile....

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  3. We all handle change differently. I think you are doing just fine. !000 stairs are awesome! Sad about SA but a you say, next year. Good luck with everything!

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  4. I had to laugh out loud at this sentence "Well, all I can say is, given how terrible I am at handling change, and what a pig's ear I made of it last year" Oh, goodness that is funny.

    I know nothing about Buddhism but here are some realizations I've made regarding dealing with change. When I start to panic and worry I am thinking in the future. I am not in the present. The worry (if I can notice it) is a sign to me to breath and bring my thoughts into the present. Sleeping is similar...worry about the future. I have found that if I sit on the edge of the bed (or even go into the other room) and meditate, it helps. Meditation helps bring me back from the future worry and back into the present.

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  5. I just sent you motivation on Daily Mile when I noticed that you've been away for a while. And then I discovered your blog (I have somehow missed before, don't know why) and I got my explanation. :)

    I've been working like a maniac lately as well, travelling etc, and it's not getting better for a month. So I totally feel you and your situation.

    Lot of zen spirit, and I was thinking about you yesterday when I passed Paavo Nurmi statue in Turku. :)

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  6. So good to see you're fine. Congrats on the new position. Sounds wonderful. Congrats on the townhouse, too. And 1000 stairs in an half hour! Awesome.

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  7. Congrats on new job - Sure you will get on top of everthing - great job in keeping up with the stairs!Good luck with everything.

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  8. Good to hear from you Natalia!

    Congrats on your new job, you sound very happy about it and that's great.

    Also good luck with the moving, moving can be stressful but once you're settled down it will be all worth it.

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  9. Bentornata a Blogland. Avere un lavoro che ti soddisfa vuol dire avere una vita molto meno stressante. Fortunatamante non so cosa voglia dire trasferirsi in un'altra città o in un altro stato, io ho sempre lavorato qui tranne brevi periodi per fare i corsi quando ero nella Coast Guard.
    Controlla la posta perchè ti ho appena inviato un pacchetto. A presto.

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  10. Hoping your Monday was WONDERFUL and that your Tuesday is even BETTER :-)

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  11. Glad to hear you're keeping it all in perspective. With change comes new adventures and mostly I find that the new adventure is more than I could imagine. Take Care and keep stepping!!

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  12. So good to have you back on the block . And thanx for your comment on The Running Project!

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