Your views on stuff

I have recently been dealing with some issues, and I am getting very frustrated with people wanting to push their views of things on me.  I understand that everyone has the right to their own opinions and views, but please don't keep pushing your views on me.

One of the things that gets frustrating is when someone only communicates with you when they want to push their view.  If you don't want to talk to me at a different time, please don't talk to me now.  Everyone has the right to express their opinions/views, but enough is enough. 

The big issue for me is on a daily basis we all get enough news and views, and it can be a little overwhelming sometimes.  I have been very polite and have felt that I could not figure out a nice way to express my frustration, but I am now going to do just that.  Basically, if you don't include me in other communications that are important, please don't include me in the mass mailings or even jokes/videos that you may think I might like.

I think this is an issue that everyone has to deal with at some point, and now it's my time to deal with it.   I hope that people understand what I am saying because I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but this is getting frustrating.

Saying Goodbye

Goodbye seems like a word that is easy to say, but sometimes it can be the hardest words for someone to utter. That is me right now, as I am going to have to say goodbye to someone that I love. The goodbye isn't because I don't love the person any more, it's because the person has passed away. The goodbye isn't even a real goodbye because this person is going to be in my heart for the rest of my life.

As I sit here and try and write this, I am remembering all the little things that happened when I was able to spend some time with this wonderful woman. She of course had her ways, but she was always willing to sit and listen to what was happening in our lives. The discussions we had were always very interesting because she wanted to understand and continued to learn right up until she died. She was someone that made me feel very welcome in her home and was willing to show me all the different projects she was working on or ones that she had recently finished.

This lady was a fighter, and now she doesn't have to fight any longer as I know over the last few months the fight was very difficult for her, but she continued on. Knowing that she is finally at peace does make the saying goodbye a little easier, and knowing she will always be in my heart helps as well.

So the goodbye that is going to be said isn't a final goodbye, just a goodbye to the body as I know she will remain in the hearts of everyone she touched.

I am who I am

Sometimes you find someone that wants you to change to meet their expectations.  I have come across this type of person and all I can say is, I am who I am, and you cannot change me.

It is very interesting to see what a person will do to try and make you who they want you to be and not let you be who you are.  In a lot of cases, if someone tries to change me without a very good reason, they are going to find someone that will fight back.  I have my own values and ethics, and theses are extremely important to me and have made me who I am.

I understand that not everyone is going to like all of me, but they have to accept that I have my values, and they need to respect that.  They also have to respect who I am and what I stand for and not try and make me someone different.

People have to understand that everyone is different and have their own views of things and even if you don't agree with a person's views, understand that you don't have to, but you should at least hear their view.  Being able to accept someone for who they are is important because if you try and force a person to change, they may change, but not the way you wanted them to change.  In my case I did change, I changed the way I dealt with the person instead of letting them change the core of me.

I am who I am, and I am not going to let someone else try and change me just because I don't meet their expectations.

Writing on a Schedule

For me, writing on a schedule doesn't work.  Some say you must write so many words a day, while others say write when you are inspired.

Some days I can write pages and pages of thoughts and ideas, while other days the pages stay blank.  For me, I try to capture all the ideas I get, big or small.  Sometimes a thought can be just a few works, later developed into an entry or policies or procedures.  Another time, a thought can be pages of a completed piece written all at once.

Not everyone can write on demand but capturing ideas is very important.  For me, I normally have something handy to write an idea on so that I don't forget it.  Some ideas don't get worked on for ages, while other ideas are quickly expanded on.  I have more than one method of tracking ideas, so that is why I sometimes end up with 2, 3 or even 4 small notebooks in my purse at once.  The notebooks are besides the tablet that normally is in the purse as well.

My writing is both professional and personal.  Ideas come when they do and not based on a schedule, so I need to capture all of them.

Writing for me is something I enjoy doing.  Please don't ask me to produce so many words or pages each day, as it isn't going to work.  Writing happens when it does, and ideas also come about when they do.

Writing on a schedule may work for some and not others.  Well, off to see how many more pages I write today.

A Day to Dream

We all need time to just sit and dream. The dream may be about an upcoming event or time, or it may be just little thoughts that pop into your head.

Sitting quietly and watching the world go by can sometimes be that dreaming day.  Simply watching the comings and goings of others can be a spark of some dreams.  Thinking of where people are heading can be so much fun.  Where are they taking that bagful of stuff or why are they in such a rush.  Watching others and thinking differently than normal can inspire you.

The mind does need that time to slow down because we are so often rushing around ourselves.  We all have too many things to do in what seems like not enough time.  Making sure we have some dream time is important.

A day to dream can help in many ways.  It can help in refocusing your own tasks, lets your mind solve problems without all the stress of normal, or it can even give you new ideas.  It doesn't really matter what the outcome of your day to dream is, as long as it meant you could escape the daily routine.

On my dream days, I always have some paper and a pen handy.  You never know what ideas or thoughts can come to mind.

Demands of our time

Nowadays, there seems to be more demands of our time than ever before. Maybe the demands really haven’t changed other than we are more aware of them now because of constant communication methods.

Before we all carried mobile devices, we could basically only be reached at home, work or by chance meetings. Now we are basically reachable no matter where we are. Email, SMS, phone and other methods of communication means that we are constantly trying to meet the needs of others or at least communicating with them. How many times have you checked your email just before tucking in and then upon waking? If you are like most people, this is something that you do almost without thinking about it now.

We still have the same number of hours in a day, but now that communication is faster and can be done from anywhere. So many people think that it’s easier to send a quick message than to pick up the phone. Sometimes it’s actually easier to make that phone call instead of writing a message because the back and forth messages can end up taking longer than the actual phone conversation would have been and with a lot less confusion. Most adults nowadays do check work email from home or from their mobile device after work hours. In a lot of cases if you can deal with a message quickly it means that you aren’t going into many issues the next day. Yes, you are trying to start your day by doing what is on your to-do list instead of dealing with the messages that accumulated over the time from when you left work and when you returned.

I know that sometimes I feel that there are more demands on my time than before, but I think I am my worst enemy when it comes to that. I am the one that puts the demands on myself to try and make sure that I get everything done quickly instead of thinking that something will get done a bit later, and there isn’t any problem with that.

Remembering that we managed before the mobile devices sometimes is what it takes for us to step back and realize that demands are the same, but now we see them quicker.

Communication between IT personnel and other individuals

How many times have you read an email or document and been extremely confused because some of the terms in the message were difficult to understand. In some cases, these messages or documents have been written by someone in an IT department, and it is full of IT terms and acronyms.

In a number of cases, these messages are trying to inform you of information that is important to you and your work. IT personnel sometimes seem to have a language all of their own, and it is hard for them to communicate without using their shortcuts. In some cases, it’s even difficult for other IT personnel to understand each other.

It is extremely important to remember that when you are writing an email or document that is going to be used by others in the company that you use language that everyone is going to understand. If you are going to use an acronym in your document, ensure that at the beginning of the document you write it out in long-hand and then show the acronym. This is important even when talking to other IT personnel because an acronym can mean a number of different things even to IT personnel. Here is an example of one acronym having three different meanings.

DC - direct current, domain controller and data centre

It is vital to ensure that a document or email can be understood by all that are going to receive it. Using IT specific terms can result in a misunderstanding of the document, or in some cases the entire document will be ignored due to the confusion. Using simple writing is the best way to ensure that the message is going to be received and understood by everyone. This method of communication doesn’t just go for written, it should also be used when talking to individuals. If you are using terms that the recipient doesn’t understand, your message will not be received correctly.

Remember, not everyone is from IT and not even IT personnel use all the same terms and meanings.