Today, as an introvert, (who, by the way, is working to get over her stage fright by volunteering to be a presenter), I’m taking the stage and doing 2 back to back presentations to 2 groups of about 30 or so people.
Last night, I tossed and tossed and tossed and turned and my mind was spinning in unproductive madness.
Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try! – Dr. Seuss
A night before a presentation means that I should get a good nights’ sleep, and I should also be well-prepared so that I can sleep.
This morning, I woke up after a horrible night of sleep – day 3 in a row. I blame the full moon for 2 of the 3, the rest is just me – worrying and fretting and hoping I didn’t forget anything – my presentations are about being a Dementia Friend – oh, the irony.
Whenever things go a bit sour in a job I’m doing, I always tell myself, ‘You can do better than this.’ – Dr. Seuss
With a full moon this week that’s played havoc on my sleep, and a couple last minute meetings instead of practicing…plus extra tasks that have come up, I’m less ‘organized’ and ‘ready’ than I hoped I would be.
YIKES!
I sure hope I pull off the presentations better than my shots of a black cat that roamed his/her way through our yard this morning.
Stage fright is real…I won’t run off the stage like the cat did, though…ready or not, I can take the shot, yes I can!
I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells. – Dr. Seuss
Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s One-Liner Wednesday
PS – Do you get stage fright? Do you sleep well the night before? What’s your trick to good sleep when the moon is full?
I don’t get stage-fright (any more). I’ll give you the advice a friend gave me about 25 years ago – remember that these people came to hear YOU speak. Instead of worrying about disappointing them, enjoy the comfort of knowing that they already respect you.
If we have a full moon, we can’t see it from behind the clouds.
Aw, that’s great advice, Dan. I’ll carry that reminder with me today. 🙂
Hope the clouds clear and you get sunshine soon – in time for the weekend for sure!
There’s hope for the weekend in the forecast, but not before then. Good luck!
Hey – I tried to comment on your post, but it didn’t work?! WP issues – here’s my comment – Cheers to revived beers and new traditions involving beers! Love all the photos – especially Maddie’s cousin – that one made me LOL! 🙂 Your father’s day adventure looks like a great tradition to carry on!
Thanks Shelley. Sorry about the WP issues. I’ve about given up on solving them, there are almost too many to keep track of. Maddie would approve of that sheep.
No worries, I understand the frustrations – I just wanted you to know why I didn’t respond on your post! Yes, Maddies would enjoy that sheep – she might take too many pointers from it?!
I don’t think Maddie could get any lazier, Shelley. She’s made relaxing into an art form.
First of all, good for you for doing this thing that scares you! I have the same fear and I did give a presentation (once) and I felt AMAZING afterwards! I hope you get the same wonderful results. I believe in you! Second, I use Hylands Calms Forte to help me sleep. I mostly got it to use the night before races, but I recently started using it for general insomnia . It’s great!
Thank you for your encouragement! I did it and I did feel great afterwards :-)! I slept better after the busy day, too…but not perfectly yet, so I’ll have to check into HCF…I’ve never heard of it. Thanks for the recommendation.
Glad to hear it went well! I hope you’ll share more about what you talked about it, if possible.
Thank you! I should do another post about dementia soon…thanks for the encouragement to share more about it. 🙂
Good for you taking this on! Once you get this behind you, you will be ready to do more of it. 😀 I used to freak out at public speaking too, but the more you do it, the better you will be. And it sounds like it’s a friendly audience. Go get ’em!
If it’s any comfort, I got next to NO sleep last night. I couldn’t fall asleep, and when I finally did, I was awakened by the sound of gushing water. (Mom ears – I hear anything abnormal in the night and probably always will.) The water pipe had popped off our toilet tank and the shutoff valve wouldn’t budge. So we had a lovely fire drill at 1AM, turning off the water to the house and mopping up water with every available towel and DH’s wet/dry vac. Just so grateful we were home when it happened. Needless to say, we’ll be calling a plumber today. And I’ll be washing tons of wet towels and rugs.
BUT, after a LOT of gray weather, there was a lovely bright moon shining on the river at 1AM. Small comforts. 😂
Thank you, Laurel – I did it and it went well and I’ll do more. They were a kind crowd, so that was nice as well.
OMG – that’s awesome your ears tuned into it so quickly, at the same time, what a horrible mess! YIKES! You’re right, it’s a good thing you were home to address it and mop up the water. I hope the plumber was available to do the call during normal work hours – so no emergency fees!?!
LOL – the moon was enjoying the show at your house ;-). Had you heard it was called the “HoneyMoon” this month…?! Cleaning up water issues at 1:00 am doesn’t sound like a honeymoon kind of deal.
I love that you always find the bright side of things! 🙂
Well, it’s a lot funnier in retrospect with the cleanup done. Ha! Had not heard it called the HoneyMoon. Not much honey over here on that night. And we have a good plumber we’ve used before, so we’re all good there. Once we got the pipe fitting changed out, we just need to change out the shutoff valves on all our toilets. This seems like a pretty rare thing though – I don’t know anyone who has had this experience but us. Just lucky, I guess. LOL.
It is amazing how we find things funny after the fact. According to Mr. – each month the moon is called something different. So June’s term is ‘honey’. So far I haven’t heard of many people who have found the moon sweet this month.
Wow – that is strange that all of your shut off valves would go bad. We’ve had pipes in our walls that suddenly crack – that’s fun to find, and supposedly ‘rare’? Ah, the joys of homeownership make us lucky, don’t they?! LOL!
Well, they’re not all bad, but having one frozen shut freaked us out. So really it’s just a safety move to avoid another mess. 😛 The house is 20+ years old now, and we have horrid water – hard as rocks, so we have multiple filtering devices. I often say the corner of our basement is our own small municipal water system.
Ah, I hear ya, good thinking. Our house is older than that now, and I’m fearful of the things soon to go bad. LOL on your own municipal water system – you’re mad scientists together! 🙂
Taking photos through a screen rarely works, blur city! I’m sure you will do fine with your presentation Shelley. I don’t believe the moon affects human sleep but I can tell you that the police are busier around here when it’s a full moon, I’ve seen and heard it too many times…
Yeah, dang screens! I should just remove them, we never open those windows and I see so many things that I’d take a picture of if they weren’t there. I have a few friends that swear by the fact the moon affects a lot of things, including sleep. I’ve noticed it my whole life. I can only imagine how the police feel by the increased activity. 😉
I get stage fright too, Shelley. It makes me forget what I am about to say. I like Dan Antion’s advice.
It’s common, that’s for sure. I thought of Dan’s comment and your encouragement as I presented. It went well, I survived, and I’ll do it again. Thank you for cheering me on!
That’s great, Shelley! You’re welcome.
Great moon shot. I caught a couple too. Hoping your presentations go well. I was contemplating doing something like that by “teaching” a class at Michaels. Not quite there yet.
Thank you!! My presentations went well. At least I think so and I survived. I bet you’d be awesome at teaching a class – you’ve done your videos, and you’re passionate about the craft – GO FOR IT! I’ll cheer you on!!
It’s always easier if you don’t overthink and don’t over-prepare. Also, if you look at it as playing a role, rather than just being yourself, it’s easier.
Thank you for your advice, Sue! Great tips!
I’m also an introvert but my professional career in IT didn’t allow for that. LOL! Then I did some community theater and that pushed the envelope even more. So now I can mingle when I need to but afterward I need some alone time to recharge. One hour of socialization means four hours of being anti-social to recover.
Way to find ways to expand your introversion. I hear ya on the need for 4 hours recovery. I was exhausted after the presentations! It did help me sleep…! 😉
What’s this about being a dementia friend? Tell me more!
Aw, Mary, thanks for asking. I bet you’d be a wonderful Champion! I’ve volunteered (been trained) to be a Dementia Friends Champion – so I share informational sessions with people interested in becoming Dementia Friends. It’s a global program, started in UK and in Wisconsin, we started it Sept 2018. Here’s the link to the website. http://www.wai.wisc.edu/dementiafriendswi/index.html
That’s awesome Shelley. It’s a wonderful program for dementia, which is not really understood by those not affected. Thanks for being a champion!
Thank you, Mary, I’m happy to help spread the word! 🙂
Hope you did well. I can’t remember the last time I had to speak in front of anyone. It’s been a while.
Thanks, Linda. It went well, the audience was kind. 🙂 Heck – you could definitely do it – you’re brave and talk to strangers while you’re out walking! 😉
That’s good – I used to do some training things at work as I worked for the H.R. Manager as well as my attorney, so used to teach some Word Perfect classes to the other staff members … not in Word, I never did a table of contents, or much in Word as my current boss doesn’t need any of those features. But that was in the 90s. Yes, I am pretty chatty as you know, maybe too chatty?!
LOL – Word Perfect…I remember that software! 🙂 You’re ability to chat is a gift, don’t knock it! 🙂
I loved Word Perfect – no auto-numbering/lettering (even if you turn it off). I use table box format all the time to “tame that beast” as we do a lot of outlines. Thank you Shelley – at one time, I was very shy; you would not have recognized me. It changed when I started at the diner – best thing that could have happened as it brought me out of my shell.
I vaguely remember Word Perfect. I’ve often wondered if I should just take a waitressing job to do just that – break me out of my shell. Shelley’s just like their shells though…LOL!
Very clever … make it a small restaurant … that’s better. I’d say 99% of our customers were daily customers … you got to know them, not just knowing what they ate (they liked you remembered), but it was like friends and family with many of them in many respects. Laurie (Mediations in Motion) responded to my post about the diner last year and said that she likewise worked in a small restaurant and it was the same camaraderie with co-workers and customers.
Maybe when I retire and need some extra cash… Hmmmmmm…something to ponder! You always get me thinking!
I once had a crazy idea that I’d like to finish off my working days at the diner … it is no longer Carter’s, but now it is a small diner-type that does breakfasts and sandwiches (Harry’s Corned Beef) … maybe work there in the Summer months a few months, then call it done. Just for a lark … start and finish your working career there and on that vocation.
Interesting thoughts – I bet you’d make a lot of $ in tips!
I saw in your comments that your presentations were successful. Well done, Shelley! That’s wonderful. It’s difficult to emerge from our comfort zone. I’m not a big fan of public speaking. But you have something important to say, and it’s great you did it!
Thank you, Rebecca :-)! It’s easier to do these presentations when the audience is so interested in helping others live well with dementia :-)!
This reminds me, Shelley, I have a story I’m working on in which features an older woman with dementia and her middle-aged daughter-in-law trying to help. I might pick your brain at one point, if you would be up for it.
Aw, that’s great – I’d be happy to help you! 🙂
I knew it would go well because you’re speaking from experience. Next time you’ll be more relaxed and rested. 🙂
Aw, thank you for the vote of confidence. You’re right though, it does make it easier when speaking from experience. I really like the presentation – so with practice, it will come easier, that’s for sure.