I was having a bit of a rough day recently. A few things had annoyed me, there was some behaviour that made me (and others) uncomfortable and someone in my line of management made a few comments about me being lucky to get something as other people have stuff to put up with too.
I was tired, frustrated about these things and basically felt condescended to and unsupported. I ended up having a bit of a brief vent to a colleague. I’m fully aware that what I was dealing with could be considered minor compared to others but comparison wasn’t really key to solving the problem.
Anyway, later in the day I went to talk to our boss. I explained my perspective on the issue and said that I’m tired. I was told that my line manager wouldn’t have meant the comparison and ‘lucky’ comment that way.
I acknowledged that and said look I’m probably being a bit precious about this. My boss says not being precious, feeling fragile. I repeated my thought that I was being precious because to me, fragile means easily breakable and that’s not me. I’m not a glass, I’m not going to break if I get knocked off a table.
At times I’ve felt broken, but I’ve come out the other side. I’ve overcome many things in my life. I’m not fragile. I didn’t break even when people purposely tried.
It’s amazing how much being labelled fragile annoyed me. Right now, I see myself as tough and resilient. I think that’s a good thing.
E. that's me 