Monday Muses ?? ?? ??

The cold weather and rain kept me inside this past week , that means I have spent a lot of time reading. Hence the reason for this image. Kate Duncan Editor of WellBeing wrote "A few months ago I realised that somewhere between childhood and adulthood I stopped playing. I'd forgotten what it felt like to just "play" letting that childlike excitement, silliness,and innocence run wild."

These few words prompted one of my favorite memories about the importance of play.

A while back the wife of an injured worker phoned me, to say that things were at breaking point would be a massive understatement. For ease of explanation we will call her Kay and her husband Ken. Kay had reached out because she didn't know what else to do. Ken had become obsessed with everything workers compensation. He had started purchasing daily papers from all over Australia just to collect articles on workers compensation, he was spending hours on line tracking down and printing out all things workers compensation. The spare room had been turned into piles of "everything that is wrong" with workers compensation. The dining room table had long since been lost under piles of note books and newspaper clippings, And there were piles in the passage way of more "all things wrong" Kay called because Ken was starting to add more piles onto the sideboard in the dining room and had purchased some filing cabinets to store even more "all things wrong". Their friends had stopped inviting Kay and Ken to barbecues or evening gatherings, family members invited Kay but asked her to leave Ken at home because all he could talk about was all that was wrong with workers compensation.

Kay had told Ken that I was coming for a chat. Ken being Ken had gone out and purchased a brand new folder and note book, and brand new set of pens. He was ready to note down everything he and I discussed. Here I have to admit I had no idea as to what I was going to say or do. Kay had also been pushed past her tolerance. As I arrived a person delivering flyers for the nearby shopping centre stopped to put the flyers into Kay's letterbox, I took the flyer with me. On the short walk an idea formulated in my mind. After a pleasant cup of tea Ken was anxious to start talking. He had opened the note book, written my name and date on the top corner of the first page, and had a selection of newspaper clippings to discuss. I had already told Kay I had an idea and that I needed her to "just go with me" even though what I was about to say would make no sense to Ken.

I asked Ken if he would trust me, he said that he would. So I shifted the pile of clippings and put the flyer in front of him with the following instructions. "Go to the supermarket, buy this tub of chocolate ice cream and for the next 7 days have 2 scoops of ice cream for breakfast, I will be back in 7 days" with that I picked up my bag and left. Ken sat there stunned and confused by what I had said. Kay gave me a quizzical look as I left but said nothing. I drove my car a short distance, about 30 minutes later Ken drove out and returned with the tub of chocolate ice cream.

A week later I returned, again I sat down with Kay and Ken for a cup of tea. As the week before Ken was eager to stop the light chatter and get on with the business at hand. I sat opposite Ken and asked him about his own workers compensation claim and all the other normal questions I would ask. Only this time Ken could not focus on workers compensation , he couldn't open the note book, he fidgeted with the new pen but couldn't pick it up. Finally he said "what about the ice cream, tell me about the ice cream?" All I said was it was just for fun, a little bit of naughty to start the day, but mostly it was just for him to learn to enjoy and to play again and in the process work out what was really important in his life.

Once Ken had space to shift his focus from all things wrong to just the pondering why he was willing to trust me enough to have ice cream for his breakfast he had spent a whole week not opening any of the newspapers, he had not gone to the local library to continue the search for all things wrong, he had spent a week thinking about ice cream and trying very hard not to enjoy the treat.

In short ken had remembered how to play and then he remembered what was really important in his life, his wife, his family, his friends and even his own self.

We had another cup of tea and then we talked about the need to just focus on what he could control in regards to his own workers compensation claim and what he wanted to be able to do in the short medium and long term futures. It took a few months and several tubs of ice cream for ken to get his life back on track. The last time I saw Kay and Ken they had just become grandparents, Ken had gone back to work and Kay was almost through her own training for a new career.

Back to the last week, again due to the rain and cold weather I have caught up on reading (and scoping out concepts) These are 3 of the books I have focused on this week. Adaptive Leadership Yes To Life in spite of everything and

connecting profit with purpose

For me there is no such thing as a wasted wintry week, as long as I am surrounded by books and white papers and even quality magazines I am able to write up thoughts and map out concepts, and ensuring that when the weather was (almost) clear walking to the cafe for a coffee to chat with others as we sat to enjoy the coffee break.

And just because I do know the importance of adding fun into my life I watch the Carrot Clarinet  demonstrated by Linsey Pollak

The most wonderful Sonia McDonald and her team were busy (as always) over the last week launching The Leadership Channel

It is raining still, the type of night for a bowl of hearty home made soup (my neighbours dropped some soup for my dinner tonight) and some crusty bread. Then a cup of tea before doing the dishes. Even though rain has been forecast for tomorrow, I do need to venture out into the rest of the world. Before I go just remember ice cream for breakfast is just fun and it reminds each of us the importance of play.

Yours in service

Rosemary

 National Outstanding Leadership Dinner that is set for the 4th September at the Royal International Convention Centre (Royal ICC) in Brisbane I hope to see you there.

Comp Laude and Gala