ON MOUNTAINS AND MOLEHILLS

When I worked at Arkansas, I did a terrible job of communicating my concerns to other people. I would let these things build up inside me for a long time. In addition, I would talk about the situations with other people who were equally frustrated, amplifying both of our feelings.

Eventually, I would have a talk with a supervisor, who would calmly point out that whatever was causing me such grief was really not a major issue. Sometimes because it could be resolved easily, and sometimes because once I aired my grievances, I found I didn't much care about the problem.

For my exit interview, I went in with seven pages of single-spaced notes about situations I had encountered during my two years. And I went through these issues, one by one, and found that in many cases, I was making a much bigger deal of things than they actually were. But because I didn't talk about it, it got bad. It's like a cut on your arm - if you wash it out right away, it's probably going to heal quickly and cleanly. If you let it go without treating it, it may fester and swell up and eventually explode, drenching those around you with infected pus.

The point is, I learned to - most times, not all the time - talk about the issues that were bothering me when they were bothering me. Yes, I am still guilty of emotionally vomiting on people (I am full of colorful analogies today), but I know that isn't the right way to go about it. Talking these things through prevent mountains being made from molehills. Of course, getting rid of the moles would probably work just as well...