Saturday, April 21, 2007

Recovery Time

You get knocked down, you jump right back up, right?

Wrong.

Who said you can't take some time out to recover and to sort out the pain?

We have national tragedies or outrages and within minutes the victims have a microphone thrust in their faces. If the press should muster the decency to leave people alone, should not we as individuals give ourselves the time and space to recover, to leave ourselves alone, without feeling a compulsion to rebound like a rubber ball?

Setbacks in the workplace that are short of termination are usually not traumatic, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve some recovery time. There are injuries to feelings and status in many work weeks and the inability to recover from them can eventually erode optimism and confidence.

But they require some time to recover.

There's much to be said for the wisdom from this John Dryden ballad:

"I am hurt, but I am not slain;
I'll lay me down and bleed a while,
And then I'll rise and fight again."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well said. I have learned that grief will out. If you don't take the time upfront to feel the pain, it will seep in your life in more unpleasent and destructive ways. Grieve, feel your pain, allow it to teach you, then move on.

Michael Wade said...

Pawnking,

That's true. Pretending the pain isn't there is simply counterproductive.