It’s probably harder than most people realize to recognize success. I mean, here’s the president trying to push for success in Afghanistan and there’s always scientists trying to push for success in testing new drugs and therapy methods. You’ve become an adult when you realize that success isn’t the same thing as winning or perfection.
I find my job incredibly hard because I find it equally hard to recognize success or change. So many of the “life skills” that my cognitively disabled clients need to learn can only be taught through difficult situations. No doubt it’s the same with anyone learning these “life skills” like communication, and patience, breathing deeply, accepting limitation, and waiting. However I feel as though (in the words of my coworker) we’ve all ‘won a trip on a luxury cruise’ but now we’re here waiting for things to ‘go wrong’ so we can then show how to fix them when the same things go wrong again in the future.
Because trust me, they will.
Deadlines get pushed back, construction projects always run over budget, trash cans always overflow, dishes inevitably pile up. Success in these situations is hard to notice, harder still to acknowledge and accept. Behind each of these irritating occurrences are the people who want to be praised for the start, or the final finish of the project, even when it didn’t follow the agreed upon schedule.
What can you do? What can you do when you’re the person behind?
Answers? Alternatively: I suppose acceptance, grace, accountability, punishment, thanks, mentors.
Which one in which circumstance? It varies.
That’s something else to puzzle out throughout adulthood. Because I hardly ever have the right answer right now. My quick answer is usually condemnation, but I’m realizing more and more that these standards are a little unrealistic and likely to garner no friends.
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