The "What The HELL?" Effect

At work at night I troll social media drooling over all the beautiful cookies I see.  You know, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, getting inspired to get my cookie on.  I leave work excited and motivated, I can't wait to go to sleep so I can get up and cookie!

I wake up at 1:30 pm with the intention to work on cookie orders until I have to get ready for work at 8:30 pm.  Then Reality steps in, taps me on the shoulder and says "Oh, yeah? You thought you'd be productive today?  Check this out...."  Suddenly the kids need a ride somewhere, or need to be picked up from somewhere, or I allow myself to be distracted by Facebook, Periscope or email, or all of the above.

Next thing you know I'm saying "what the hell!?".  It's now 6 pm and I tell myself, "oh well, since I'm already off track I might as well give up on cookies and take a nap before work.  I'll start over tomorrow."  This is the "what the hell" effect:  Giving into distraction causes me to feel shame, guilt and out of control.  In an attempt to make myself feel better, I give up and tell myself I'll do better tomorrow."

The solution for this problem?  Forgiveness.  Forgive myself for being human.  The goal should be to set more realistic expectations for my day.  Today for instance, I woke up, had my coffee while I trolled social media and then took a moment to plan my day.  I have several orders to do, but instead of setting myself up for failure, I did not have a lot of time today because I'm working a 12-hour shift, I looked for anything that would be progress towards completing my cookie orders.  I made a batch of royal icing, and that made me feel very accomplished because now I will be ready to start tomorrow.

Moral of the story?  Set realistic goals for the day.  And if you get off track, forgive yourself.  Above all, be nice to yourself.

Dispatcher Humor

I have to throw in a giggle from work tonight.  A woman dialed 911 and when asked what her emergency was she stated someone broke into her home and replaced her sink.  She was asked if anything was taken from the home, her response "yes!  The old sink!".  

I don't know, seems like a pretty considerate burglar to replace her old sink! 

Turned out her landlord had done it.

Dispatch PSA

Do you know the signs of a stroke?  One-sided face drooping, one-sided arm weakness and speech difficulty.  

I took a 911 call tonight where the woman said her husband was having a heart attack.  He just dropped to the ground and could not get up.  I asked if he was awake, and she said yes.  I suspected this was not a heart attack at all.  I asked her to ask him to smile.  She did, and then answered "he can't."  I asked her to have him raise his arms, and she said, "he can't raise his left arm, nothing works on his left side, that's how I know it's a heart attack."

I stayed on the phone with her and reassured her, told her to reassure him, and we all waited for paramedics to arrive, which took only 2 mins.  The paramedics transported the gentleman to the hospital where he will receive timely care. 

With a stroke, time is very important to aid in recovery.  So be sure to know the symptoms of a stroke, you never know when you might need that knowledge!