It’s Cold Outside!

It’s Cold Outside!

© By Allen Merritt (2017)

Baby, it’s cold outside. Oh, yes it is!

It has been unusually cold in my neck of the woods lately. It really feels like winter, but in a foreign sort of way. You see I live in a warm state. It never gets so cold you can't stand it or are inhibited by it for great lengths of time. I like it that way, which is why I left the northeastern part of the country for the great southwest. It’s not that I can’t handle a little bit of snow; it’s just that I don’t want to be burdened, enclosed or stuck for months on end by it. It gets to be too much.

It occurs to me that this blast of cold hits us both literally and figuratively. I especially noticed the duality of this thought while working a job this week. I thought it would be a good topic for this week’s discussion on recognizing the polarities of negative and positive.

I booked a two day job assignment requiring me to work overnight hours on a film shoot. As it turned out, the weather was freezing cold and quite frigid. Despite this arctic blast, we were trying to make it appear more like 85 degree weather. People were wrapped in blankets, bundled in coats and periodically had to throw them off prior to a shot. They had to hide them throughout the night for up to twelve hours. When the wind kicked up, the wind chill factor made in difficult to work. And, at three in the morning, it really becomes painful.

At times the crew members were feeling the pressure of it all and needless-to-say temperaments were short to the point people were behaving very coldly (pun intended) to one another. So this brunt of negativity was smacking us around every which way but loose. This made it difficult to maintain a positive sense of composure, because people start to feel attacked when confronted by cold personalities coupled with uncomfortable living conditions or environmental situations. 

I found myself acutely aware of the negativity building. I challenged my awareness to discover the lesson I can learn and share from what I was witnessing, because at one point crew members failed to communicate effectively with one another and began pointing the blame finger at those of us doing what we were told. Instead of taking responsibility and correcting the problem, certain crew members shed the burden on others. This is when patience wore thin and members began to speak out to prevent further conflict.

Many times, witnessing such events and staying silent is best until circumstances play out further. To maintain a positive stance one must pay attention and not react or overreact. I have seen situations improve simply by watching situations weed themselves out. People who need to move on usually do. The unknown factor makes itself clear with a little time and space. Of course, there is a common sense thread to consider here. When it is time to stand up and be heard and voice something to right a wrong or correct going astray, then one must think about doing so in a considerate, polite and professional manner. There is, after all something to be said for operating with a filter. In this way, everyone benefits. 

Ultimately, the evening came to an end and everyone survived and no one was really hurt or taken advantage of. It takes quite a team of individuals to make an event happen like this one. But that is the thing to remember: it IS a team of INDIVIDUALS. All have their own thoughts, opinions, personalities, experiences and backgrounds for which they bring to the table. How they handle and present themselves is another story.

So when it's cold outside, don't let any bitterness filter through to the inside and stay there. Feel what you're going to feel, process it and move on from it. Make a decision to stay positive anyway. Take care of business in the best way you can. When it’s cold outside, be prepared and keep yourself warm. As they say, cold hands, warm heart. Solution? Get some good gloves and then make it warm hands and warm heart. It beats the alternative, which is to have warm hands a cold heart. 

Stay warm this week.

Cheers!