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Some may say the day is wasted. Some may say the day is savored. I prefer the latter after a besotted lock-down for 24 hours. Dinner elsewhere makes me drunk from the inhalation of you.

The dinner is served. The dinner is prepared. The dinner is magical. The entire evening, full of wonder.

I bought some napkins. You taught me to take it slow. To enjoy the little things in life. You’re not supposed to gobble down your food like hamster. Embrace the experience of a simple ice cream shop. You sit down. They take your order before scurrying away. You wait in anticipation. You are served. Every spoonful into your greedy stomach is a piece of art. Full of giggles and pleasure.

The ice cream experience will always remind me to take things slow. Examine the life less imagined. Live the life that is mundane.

I feel like you’re the owner of my house. You take charge. I am not sure what to make of this. I’m not used to the strong force of nature that is you.

A picture is shown and the skeptic starts to melt.

I am ill and you offer to make me a meal. I don’t quite believe you. So full of doubt with broken promises.

Time to catch up on the past seven days. It’s funny. The more I write, the happier I get. Yet, I let the habit lapse. But I’m starting to think it may be impossible to write daily. Especially if my preference is to write in the morning. That’s when my best writing takes place, but also conflicts with the best work done during this time.

And thus, I tap away this evening. Two hours and counting. In between making and drinking herbal tea, I stretch here and there.

The Mambo King plays a Rumba-Afro-Cuban music in the background. Someone is dancing to this upbeat, smiling and laughing as he spins and turns with and around the crowd. He smiles and gyrates his hips, inviting the crowd to join him in on the fun. His footsteps are light and fast. They shuffle to and fro, marking his space with the spin that pushes and pulls you in.

The onlookers can’t help but smile.

I just dreamed this up all in my head. It’s good to write down my imaginations.

I am extremely ill. It started slowly on Saturday, getting a bit worse on Sunday, and on Monday, it hits me like a truck in full velocity. It always does, doesn’t it?

I go in for three 1-1 meetings. Both bosses tell me to go home to rest. So I go home. I sleep in between drinking tea. My entire being is absolutely and totally exhausted.

Who knew?

He eats his ice cream like a magician. A professional. Someone who gets paid to do this. How fun is it to eat ice cream and laugh as if there is no tomorrow. As if we are still school children with no worries but homework?

Someone from the altMBA program recommended I pick up The Highly Sensitive Person. How to thrive when the world overwhelms you, written by Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D.

Below excerpt describes my struggle to achieve balance in constant conflict.

“This kind of HSP would be both very curious and very cautious, bold yet anxious, easily bored yet easily overaroused. The optimal level of arousal is a narrow range. One could say there is a constant power struggle between the advisor and the impulsive, expansive warrior within the person… What type are you? Does your pause-to-check/advisor system rule alone, thanks to a quiet activator/warrior-ing system? That is, is it easy for you to be content with a quiet life? Or are the two branches that govern you in constant conflict? That is, do you always want to be trying new things even if you know that afterward you will be exhausted?”

I’m spending getting to know myself without spreading myself too thin. I listened to a friend’s advice to not sign up for additional projects, except now I find myself bored. No surprise.

I guess I’m one of those conflicted HSP. Can you relate? If so, I recommend you pick up the book and give it a read.

“Hey, where is your converse! You are wearing heels!??? What’s going on?”

I dressed up to meet a woman. And so, we meet after not seeing each other for three years. (Time, how fast you tick along…)

She is exactly the same, except better because she’s wiser and older. It took her 2.5 years to turn cash positive, without having an adverse impact on her family of three on the back of a lifelong savings. She found ways to reduce the overhead by using an executive lounge nearby. She had believers who believed in her along the way.

The biggest lesson her mentor gave her? Don’t do it alone. Do it with a partner. Hey, here is someone I think you should work with.

3 years later, she calls her partner her ‘husband’. The two of them complement each other. Pick each other up when one is down. One brings intuition and corporate experience. The other, analytical, detailed thinking.

I can’t help but smile and volunteer services. I ask how I can help. I recommend she get her own YouTube channel to showcase what an African woman entrepreneur can do. How she can share her light with those in need of her counsel. Her time is limited, and so the video recording can be used to reach far and wide.

I’m honored to pay for our 3-hour lunch. It also helps that the steak with carrot and green veggies was absolutely delicious.

I found a way to on board an internal employee into our team to fill the huge gap that’s been growing too far and wide. A young asset full of energy and possibilities. Watching him thrive in challenging environment makes me proud. I am also finding ways to pull in cross-functional resources…

To do so, we must understand:

1.  Who has the power and influence?
2. Follow the money.