Replying to LO29712 --
Dear Steve:
You have certainly given me a lot to think about! I was a little
surprised to discover how many practices I use to navigate my way through
personal and professional situations, but if I had to choose one, it would
be "dance with the tiger." I'm not sure where I got this concept,
probably from several places over time, but I do know that I was able to
articulate it better after I heard Roseanne Cash's song, "Dance with the
Tiger" on her Interiors album. It was one of those "ah-hah" moments when
someone else put into words what I intuitively was practicing. For me, to
dance with the tiger means to embrace the situation, not run away from it.
It's based on the idea that if you're locked in an embrace with a tiger,
you're so close that it's harder for the tiger to injure you.
"Embracing" it makes the situation, the tiger, my own and gives me more
control over the outcome. The dancing part has to do with moving with the
situation, not resisting it. That gives me time to see if the solution
lies in the problem, and gives me time to learn from it and figure out my
next steps. Of course, I enter the dance floor a little more slowly and
carefully in some situations than others; timing is everything! But
overall, it's been a practice that has worked for me.
I'm an administrator in a California community college, spouse of one,
mother of two.
Harriett J. Robles
hjrobles@aol.com
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