Mostly Made of Win

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To quote a friend and ex-colleague of mine, “Today has been mostly made of win.”

I have to admit, last night I was a bit worried about today (Sunday). Actually, it’s been quietly niggling at me for about a month now. It was our second in the current round of consultation meetings about the Strategy document we’ve been working on. The first (last month), was a challenge, so while I was feeling positive (thanks to some really encouraging words of comfort and advice from some lovely people) I was also still feeling a little… unsettled.

I had a plan of attack. Up early for the 7.30 service, then 4 hours to finalise preparations for the meeting, sort out food, extra copies of printouts, arranging tables, maybe a little bit of email or a nap to chill me out and make sure I don’t go into the meeting doing my best impression of a Little Stress Bunny.

So I was not encouraged when my day started extra early and somewhat unexpectedly. Something I ate yesterday disagreed with me and chose to let me know around 4.30am and for a good few hours after that. I missed the 7.30 service and wasn’t at all sure I was going to make if for the 9.30. I refused to entertain the idea that I would have to miss the meeting, but the threat loomed over me as I tried to think of everything I could to hurry what is basically an un-hurriable process.

In the end, I made it to the 9.30. I was late, but I made it. (Before the Gospel too!)

The service was only about 2 hours today, so we had more time for the errands than I was expecting. I had more help than I had been expecting too, thanks to some of my very lovely colleagues. It’s only fair to feed people if you’re asking them to lend you their brains for a Sunday afternoon, so we went to Nandos to order the lunches and spent P800 (£80) on fast food! There’s something oddly thrilling about that – maybe it’s because I haven’t eaten that much fast food in the last 9 months.

As we all sat outside in the warmth of the winter sun, relaxing and chatting over our meal, I felt profoundly grateful – for the help I’d had today, for the help I’ve had the whole time I’ve been here, for the opportunity to be here in the first place, for the sunshine, the food and the shared friendship.

The meeting itself got off to a slow start. I was a little worried at one point that it was going to be abandoned! But we got through the hard work, untangled some knotty areas, and have come up with a really strong way forward. I’ve gone from feeling a bit like I’d hit a brick wall to being excited to get into the office tomorrow to start working on the next draft.

So I’m going to go now – to get a good night’s sleep, finish getting better, and get cracking on things in the morning!

All in all – win!

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