Five Minute Friday: Two situations handled unconstructively

AWARE

I have been thinking a lot recently about how terrible I feel about things I did or said when I wasn’t aware how much damage they were causing.

In one case, I was partially responsible for making a report about a fellow resident at a place where I lived (I was the head resident) that resulted in her ability to keep living there being revoked.

In another, I was partially (but not solely) responsible for reinforcing an environment where a colleague was terminated for violating procedures at our office.

In both cases, I wish (in retrospect) that I had demonstrated more maturity.

In a recent situation where I had the opportunity to stay something constructive rather than share an opinion that cast doubt on another’s abilities, I failed to stay constructive.

With the amount of time that has passed since the first two instances, I am aware all of these years later that I could have been a more engaged leader and could have possibly created an atmosphere of productive improvement rather than rejection.

In the third case, I still have time to approach the situation from an angle of support, not skepticism.

It’s never too late to grow.

Welcome to this week’s Five Minute Friday. Our instructions, via coordinator Kate Motaung: “Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation.” (But I can’t resist spell checking, as you can imagine.)

Paula Kiger

Wife of one, Mom of two, Friend of many. My pronouns are she/her/hers.