When It Rains

It’s a thing we all know. Those of us who work in the field of compliance – we all know it. We all know it well. Maybe others know it, too.

Some days we wake up, and it’s sunny and bright and we’re full of energy. And the day is full of promises. It’s going to be a great day. We’re gonna do our work with strength and skill.

We’re gonna be the best compliance professionals on the face of the planet. Our lives are sunny and bright and we are getting it all done.

I love those days. When my job goes well – really well. Those are the great days – when I can do no wrong.

But – here it comes, the bad days – there are also some days when nothing goes right. Absolutely nothing. No matter how hard I try, I just can’t hit the mark.

I’ve talked about it. With coworkers. Bunches of them. I don’t mean really that we’re being negative. Or gripers. Or complainers.

I mean some days just do not go well. At all. No matter what we do. There are just those tough days.

I try not to gripe or fuss or complain. I fight the urge to roll over first thing in the morning and go right back to sleep. I get up anyway, dress, eat, go to work. I fight the urge to quit my job when one of those days comes at me.

When I was a kid, my granny would tell me, “Into every life some rain must fall.” I got it. I understood. Even back then sometimes no matter what I did, there were bad days.

For no real reason. And no warning. They’d just show up out of nowhere. And sometimes they’d hit so hard and fast I’d want to hide in a closet and ignore the whole world. All day.

My granny also told me, “Bad weather can come without warning. You just gotta plow right on through it.”

I took her advice. Even as a kid, I’d get up, get ready and face those bad days.

Some days it might be a sort of semi drizzle. Not the best day, but not the worst either.

But some days came out of nowhere like a massive thunderstorm. Or like a blizzard trying to shut down everything and everyone. And some days seemed like the end of the world. Like nothing could survive it.

Get what I mean?

It’s not the real weather – not the weather outside my window. Not the rain storm that drenches me. Not the blizzard piling snow a foot high. Not the hurricane that tries to send my lawn chairs sailing through the air.

No, as my granny always told me, it’s the weather in my heart, in my mind, in my soul. It’s discouragement. It’s worry and fear. It’s that anxious thought – “Am I good enough?”

Know what my granny did? Huh? Wanna know?

My granny taught me self-talk. She taught me to give myself encouraging words. She taught me to think of all I’ve accomplished – to give myself hope.

She was tough, my granny. And smart. She taught me what a friend of mine calls “Counting my blessings.”

I write them down – those good words, those thoughts of courage and hope, those accomplishments.

They’re my protection on tough days. They’re my shelter from sudden storms. They’re my courage when I falter.

© 2024 K. Leet

What do you think?

Do stormy days inside come at you?

Do you feel down sometimes?

What helps you on those days?

These are stories (usually fictional, but not always), based on insights and experiences from the world of compliance & ethics.