ProfessionAl
develoPMent
tAke tHe suPerMoM Pledge:
do A little less witH More HelP
on the occasion of my last birthday (yes, 29, again, again…), my mom sent me a Barefoot Girls card with a cartoon draw-
Jo DaMato
ing by Nancy Wallace of a whimsically-dressed woman who was
balancing a cup of coffee on her head while standing on her tiptoes and carrying the fol-
lowing words in shopping bags on both arms—health, comfort and joy, younger skin,
attitude, happiness, love, laughter,
peaceful serenity, romance, sex, and
good friends. The caption then read,
“You can’t have it all but there’s noth-
ing wrong with trying.” I liked it so
much that I taped it on the wall behind
my computer so it stays in my sight-
line when working. The sentiment de-
scribes my life well, but I’m still wait-
ing for Mom to send another card that
illustrates what happens if you are for-
tunate enough to be living the fairy tale.
If I were to write that card it would
probably depict that whimsical lady
tending to a garden growing the same
words from the original card. It would
say that there is plenty of routine main-
tenance and nurturing needed to both
preserve and grow that which we are
fortunate enough to have. To do that is
hard enough, but it is even harder when
we put so much pressure on ourselves
to excel in every area.
Like many of you,
multitasking
has made me
Over Confident (OC).
I don’t mean we are in
danger of the macho
hazardous attitude
that we learn about
and try to avoid as
pilots when flying,
but we are affected
by a version of that
translated to everyday
life on the ground.
the entire next week while I had a busy
week of my own. Why was I not able
to admit that resting would have been
more prudent than trying to prove to
everyone that supermom was just dan-
dy, thank you very much? Like a gar-
den, I just needed plenty of sunlight,
water, and a bed on which to rest my
weary body. And TiVo!
