Long Distance Management

I just wrote a paper about long distance management and how important it is to make sure that everyone feels included and a working partner in a business relationship, and it really got me to thinking about my personal relationships and how they need just as much caring.

I have gotten to the point or feeling with most of my friendships (there are exceptions) that once I moved away I became non existent in everyones lives. Everyone seems to be moving on and I am missing out on it.

So this has got me thinking, is it possible to place the principles of business relationships onto friendships that I hold dear? I do the minor things as much as I think is OK, without being overly creepy on the 'I miss you' scale, I send emails with updates, and what I am dreaming of for the future but it is getting to be few and far between with the replies and 'I miss you too's'. I am not saying that I expect all of my friends to be crying that I am not there but I am starting to feel like Marty McFly in Back to the Future when he is standing there and his hand starts to disappear even after trying so hard to make everything the way it was.

I had such excellent friendships before I moved away, there was never a night that I felt out of touch or alone. I guess that is part of the moving away gig, you have to try harder and believe that those who loved you when you were there continue to do so when you are gone. Perhaps the Long Distance Management rules do apply, show respect, gratitude, and make sure that everyone feels connected to the cause or company, I think that I would be an excellent Long Distance Manager but maybe I am just not that great at being a Long Distance Friend.

I like to think WWPD

My sleepless nights have led me to watching my full set of Star Trek TNG, and I know that writing this will out me as a Trekkie, (although those close to me know it already) but I think that it is time for me to come out of the 'Trek Closet'.

I find that there are few shows or movies that leave lasting impressions on me, but TNG manages to catch me every time. I often watch certain episodes and have debates about what would I do if stuck in that situation. Do I stick to my morale compass or 'rules' that are placed upon me, or do I act from a place of need/want or from the heart? Picard always seems to make the right decision but most of the time it is for the greater good and not for himself and since I don't run a star ship it is easy for me to say what I would do. I have had to make major choices in my life and they all seem to have turned out alright but I always question them after.

So as I sit here writing this and listening to Picard solve a small planets need for water reclaiming I think maybe all of my problems would be easier solved if I took a moment to think - What Would Picard Do?

Fabric of Time

Have you ever looked back on the one thing that was the worst thing that you have gone through and have been thankful that it happened?
Have you ever looked at a broken heart and been glad that it is there?
I woke up and looked at my life and saw what it would have been if everything bad had never happened....it wasn't nearly as good.
Even though I am holding on to the strings of my past because they are still in my present and I want them to be in my future I am so glad that they are strings that I can unravel them, cut them, or braid them to make them stronger or something new and exciting.
I am glad that life hasn't been easy, I am glad that my heart has been broken and I am glad that I can make the best of it......and most of all I am glad that I am still standing and moving forward.....because the past can come with me but I can't go back to the past.