I hope you’re all having a wonderful post-Easter public holiday for the Westerners, a great Pesach for our Jewish readers and just a wonderful time for everyone else! It is the time for family at the moment – isn’t it?
When families get together, somehow it’s the women who really bring us together. We do the cooking, the chatting and the planning. And the men basically just show up. Tsk tsk! We often forget our value as women and our ability to not only bring people together, but to multi-task in making everything perfect. In my family, my cousin’s wife has become the new ‘plotter’. She has everyone in line and in place at the right time. She fiddles around in her home to make our family gatherings special. I appreciate her because I know that her role is hard work!
In Natalie’s family, she’s that person. She seems to be the one who pulls together the troops and ensures that they stay in touch. A little bird told me that this year she hosted an Easter Egg Hunt at her home yesterday, which I can only image, was lovely! Natalie is that person at work too. She just has this way of getting her team of great women together and working hard. In fact, she was included in last week’s Sunday newspaper talking about this very topic: http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article1021858.ece/Q--amp--A--Putting-trust-in-women
In this article Natalie talks about how we’re being constantly interrupted by Social Networking in today’s modern world and how this can be really negative as it keeps us distracted. As I write this post, I’ve checked my email twice and have BBM’ed my fiancée (not to mention the FaceBook check and the Twitter post). With all of this going on around us we barely have a moment to gather our thoughts.
Now don’t get me wrong – Social Networking is awesome! I wouldn’t be writing this post if I didn’t think so (and I sincerely hope you’re not sitting in the driver’s seat as you read it!) Social Networking, in my opinion, allows us a glimpse into others’ personal experiences around the world, at any moment. And I just love knowing what’s going on around me, from every perspective.
But what Natalie believes is that we need to be 100% present in every moment in order to fully give our all to the task we have in front of us. You cannot honestly say that you’re really engaged in your conversation with your colleague when you’re reading your emails and updating your LinkedIn status at the same time. Though us women have the wonderful ability to multi-task, there’s also context to what this means. It means switching easily between functions and being capable and fully engaged in what you’re doing at any given time.
So this week, may I be so bold as to suggest that we stand taller in the age of technology and that we commit ourselves to every moment. If you’re talking to your mom on the phone, give her your full attention. If you’re hunting for the perfect new boots (because for us Southern Hemisphere folk, winter has just arrived with little warning, brrr…!) be focused in finding what you’re looking for. And if you’re writing a High Heeler post, stop checking your phone and your email – oops! Guilty as charged.
Let’s be High Heelers who know what multi-tasking is – in its best sense. Let’s be the people who show others that they’re important through the way we engage with them, without distraction. And let’s continue to step up through our focus and respect for others.
If you keep your eyes on the path ahead, you won’t stumble on the rock in the way… and we all know that there’s nothing sexy about falling in heels. So keep walking and keep focussed.
Jo
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