Choose Your Battles Wisely--We've Got Cookies!

On some days the only kind of control we are granted, towards attempting to manage the chaos of the day, is that which we can rely on when wrestling with our own demons. A lot of things happen around and outside of us, over which we often have little, if any, control. So, as my Monday got off to a rough start this week, and the day began reeling out of control, I was going to have to find some way to "get a grip" and hold my ground--"right the ship" and regain my equilibrium, (which has already been a little off recently, to begin with).

Mondays, in general, are the most stressful day of my work week. This Monday, in particular, all hell was breaking loose as I was putting out fires left and right (on top of the lingering pop-up flames from past fires). In order to survive the day I was going to have to call on all my troops. I reached down into the depths of my core to summon all my reserve strength.

The ability to focus and to creatively harness the power of symbolism: those are both key for me. Chaos raging all around--I needed to choose my battle...pick my opponent. I may look small, but I'm deceptively feisty and fierce when necessary. I am David...send me your Goliath...and I'll show you what I've got. And so it was that I picked the largest, most seemingly insurmountable target in the room: the plate of fresh cookies someone had piled high on the table in the center of the staff room.

Game on!

"As a matter of principle, I will not eat any of those cookies." Focus. A good old-fashioned stare-down began. This was no longer just an everyday plate of cookies. It now became a stockpile for all my other battles, both internal and external. Symbolism. Already the "cookie" metaphor is very strong in my life. They are the one food that possesses the power to unhinge my entire agenda for eating a wholesome, healthy diet. Cookies are my kryptonite. So, the symbolism riding on yesterday's battle was inherently rich and strong.

As the day wore on, the cookies slowly began to disappear from the pile, one by one, as other staff members passed by the plate. I stared resolutely back at the cookie heap as the balance of power between us teetered and tottered noiselessly in the atmosphere of the room. The cookies stared glaringly back at me, unwilling to give up so easily. Both of us seemed to gain a strange kind of satisfaction from the fact that no one else in the room was even remotely aware of this high stakes competition taking place right in their midst. If there was no audience, no one would be there to witness if we simply folded. I could eat a cookie and no one in the room would think anything of it--what is there to lose? Yet, somehow that made the stakes even higher. I would know, and the cookie pile would know. And really that's the only thing that matters.

Cookies have been around for millions of years....plenty of time for perfecting their offensive strategies. This battle of the wills was an even match of iron clad patience and perhaps even a little defiance. The quickest way to light a fire in me is to tell me there's something I cannot do. The cookie's taunt, "You can't outlast me in this stare down..." only sufficed as more ammunition towards my resolve. Poor move, cookie!

And then it was down to one. By mid afternoon there was only one cookie remaining. The cookie pile was weak from the long day's battle, but it was perhaps saving its strongest tactics for the end. Apparently the cookies have been working out with Bob Harper as well. "Finish strong!" I can hear Bob chanting, "Everyone starts out strong....it's the ability to finish strong that's a marker of true strength!" That's not an exact quote, but it conveys his message.

A couple more hours and there is still only one cookie left. No more pile of cookies. It's almost sacrilegious to leave a solo cookie just sitting there on an all-but-empty plate. Really, it is a compassionate and virtuous act to put that last cookie out of its lonely misery. I'm not sure exactly where I learned that, but isn't it true?

But I didn't fall for it this time. Too much was riding on this particular battle.

I do have a competitive spirit. I have to admit, I could hear "We are the Champions" playing over the loudspeakers of my mind as I prepared to leave work for the day. I stared down my opponent one last time, turned off the office lights and peacefully shut the door behind me, with a smile on my face. The sweet taste of victory is more lasting than that of any cookie I've ever known.

As I left the cookie sitting there on that plate, it left me feeling like I had managed to gain a little more of an upper hand on my day. Sure, there were still things outside my control, but in my own small way I would carve out a space to create my own order and sense of control. And so I did not let the battle end there. The stare down was only the beginning. In order to prove my point ever so clearly I then rushed off to the gym. I left work promptly in order to make it to a cardio kickboxing class--an amazing, intense workout with some great core work, which I love! It was everything I needed to help wipe out the stress from my day. And then, to really put the nail in the coffin, I followed that up with running two miles on the treadmill.

There was a lot hinging on Monday's battle....but I think it's fair to say I came out on top. I'll take the win! In fact, I put it in my quiver as I prepared to do it all over again the next day.

C'mon Goliath....bring me your cookies! Show me what you've got! I dare you.

Welcome to Tuesday.