Walking on the Critical Path

I am upset...no not just angry or mad but UPSET! Ever have one of those mornings...you know...you are looking forward to a nice relaxing day. Mentally, you have some plans. Mine today involve going to Cabazon with a friend to go shopping (yes I am about to do my Christmas shopping in October). We have plans for lunch at a hole in the wall that serves the best burritos on earth! Let's just say I have been looking forward to today for a the entire week.

Then "BAM" the morning starts with a call that gets me upset. Now I'm angry and I have this on my mind. What really occurs to me in the shower though is "I'm not as much upset with the conversation as I am with the fact that my peaceful day has been intruded upon." Someone broke the silence I was counting on.

Why the call went bad is a whole different story. I'm a creature of habit. I admit it. I really don't care for having plans interrupted or changed. I like to make a plan and stick with it. Hmmmmm....could this be why my business cards say "Sr. Project Manager"? I plan everything all day long and I plan my personal life also. When things at work don't go according to plan, I don't take it personally, I just report it upwards. When things in my personal life don't go as planned.....well I feel as if there is no alternative...like I am continually walking on a critical path thru life.

I'm not one for setting an expectation and then backing out of it and I really don't take well to it when others do the same thing. But then it occurs to me....plans are only interrupted in life when you have already set an expectation. So at work, I have this written plan which is the expected work for the week and when things deviate from the plan, that's a potential problem. In my personal life, there is no written plan so I have an expectation in my head of what "should" happen and when things deviate from that, I see this as a potential problem. The difference is that this morning I asked myself....who sets that expectation in my head? I DO! I am setting myself up for failure every time and I can control my own plan and stop walking the critical path. I just need to adjust my expectations and more importantly my expectations of others and their actions.

So if this morning would have started without the expectation there would have been nothing to be upset about and I wouldn't be angry.

Food for thought as I head out for a day that is no longer ruined.