Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Yesterday I was finally able to attend the second of the women’s business networking groups I belong to. I was sick in November and had a plumber at my house in December, so it was nice to reconnect with the friends who are not part of my other group. I sat near a woman who had come to the November event and liked it enough to join. This woman specializes in Google ads and I may be able to send referrals her way. I grabbed her card so I can connect with her to find out more about what she does.
This group, like my other women’s business networking group, offers and encourages opportunities to schedule individual connections with other women in the group. We are each given a paper to write down one person we would like to connect with after hearing everyone’s introductions. Those papers are passed out to the person with whom we wish to connect. We also put our card in a box for random connections. You contact the person on the card you draw and the person who draws your card contacts you.
I am not participating in the connection drawings in either women’s business networking group until August at the earliest. I am scheduling volunteer decluttering days on my less busy days until school gets out in May and then I will be running the streets with my seven-year-old, Mika, until she starts school again in early August. I decided clearing out my unused household items is more important than making more friends, for now. If I get enough volunteers to be able to finish my lower level by the end of the school year, I can use my less busy days for individual connections once school resumes in August.
I will always choose time with Mika rather than an individual connection, but the two are not necessarily a conflict. The woman I took a card from yesterday has a seven-year-old daughter just like me. We could schedule a connect at a playground this summer so we could talk, and our daughters could play. Our daughters might become friends and we might become friends. I will be keeping my ears open to identify other mothers of young children to connect with this summer.
I am a home body during the winter. I have been that way since I had my automobile accident, although I did drag myself (and a space heater) to fun activities with my older children during their school breaks. I have been more sensitive to cold for the past four years, so Mika and I do not go out much when it is cold. When I go to my networking groups each month when the weather is cold, I need that connection time to warm up my soul. I am sure those two days a month keep my mind in the positive space I need it to be in.
When I missed my groups in November and only went to one in December, I noticed my attitude was less positive. Yes, I was sick also, but mental outlook plays a big part of how our illnesses affect us. I was very pessimistic the second half of December and I am sure that was directly related to my lack of connection in November and December. Yes, I have casual conversations with some of the bus drivers and it makes my day brighter when I ride with my favorites, but you cannot have a deep conversation on a public bus.
I talk with my doctors and nurses at my endless medical appointments, but those conversations usually revolve around my cancer and treatment. There is not much uplifting content when your doctor tells you they are pushing back your treatment a week because you have an infection and they do not want you to die. I am glad they do not want me to die, but I do not want to be reminded I will likely die soon.
My piece of advice to you is to connect more when you can. I was planning to drop my second networking group after our October meeting. I now realize I need to be there each month to stay strong enough to deal with what is still coming my way.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.
Yesterday I was finally able to attend the second of the women’s business networking groups I belong to. I was sick in November and had a plumber at my house in December, so it was nice to reconnect with the friends who are not part of my other group. I sat near a woman who had come to the November event and liked it enough to join. This woman specializes in Google ads and I may be able to send referrals her way. I grabbed her card so I can connect with her to find out more about what she does.
This group, like my other women’s business networking group, offers and encourages opportunities to schedule individual connections with other women in the group. We are each given a paper to write down one person we would like to connect with after hearing everyone’s introductions. Those papers are passed out to the person with whom we wish to connect. We also put our card in a box for random connections. You contact the person on the card you draw and the person who draws your card contacts you.
I am not participating in the connection drawings in either women’s business networking group until August at the earliest. I am scheduling volunteer decluttering days on my less busy days until school gets out in May and then I will be running the streets with my seven-year-old, Mika, until she starts school again in early August. I decided clearing out my unused household items is more important than making more friends, for now. If I get enough volunteers to be able to finish my lower level by the end of the school year, I can use my less busy days for individual connections once school resumes in August.
I will always choose time with Mika rather than an individual connection, but the two are not necessarily a conflict. The woman I took a card from yesterday has a seven-year-old daughter just like me. We could schedule a connect at a playground this summer so we could talk, and our daughters could play. Our daughters might become friends and we might become friends. I will be keeping my ears open to identify other mothers of young children to connect with this summer.
I am a home body during the winter. I have been that way since I had my automobile accident, although I did drag myself (and a space heater) to fun activities with my older children during their school breaks. I have been more sensitive to cold for the past four years, so Mika and I do not go out much when it is cold. When I go to my networking groups each month when the weather is cold, I need that connection time to warm up my soul. I am sure those two days a month keep my mind in the positive space I need it to be in.
When I missed my groups in November and only went to one in December, I noticed my attitude was less positive. Yes, I was sick also, but mental outlook plays a big part of how our illnesses affect us. I was very pessimistic the second half of December and I am sure that was directly related to my lack of connection in November and December. Yes, I have casual conversations with some of the bus drivers and it makes my day brighter when I ride with my favorites, but you cannot have a deep conversation on a public bus.
I talk with my doctors and nurses at my endless medical appointments, but those conversations usually revolve around my cancer and treatment. There is not much uplifting content when your doctor tells you they are pushing back your treatment a week because you have an infection and they do not want you to die. I am glad they do not want me to die, but I do not want to be reminded I will likely die soon.
My piece of advice to you is to connect more when you can. I was planning to drop my second networking group after our October meeting. I now realize I need to be there each month to stay strong enough to deal with what is still coming my way.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.