"Just okay?"

I'm just going to be up-front and say that work has been overwhelming me recently. Finals Week starts in two weeks, so closing is just under three weeks now and there's a lot of information to take in. Yes, I helped wrap up things at the Missouri Academy for a handful of years, but many things just feel so different. The biggest thing that I'm anxious about is that my building closes on Saturday and less than 24 hours later, it opens back up as the hall for summer students.

Since we are a couple of weeks out, some anxiousness is coming from some information still being up in the air (for example, how many students will be moving in right away to start up May semester classes). These types of things should solidify as we get closer, and despite having a good number of meetings to discuss a lot of elements with closing, I feel like I can piece the weekend together a little more concretely after each meeting.

However, I can't exactly say that today was a good day all around. After a morning meeting and plotting out my daily to-do tasks, I was glad to take some time away from everything else and sit in my apartment. That's not really the point that I want to focus on with this blog though.

So, I'm not the biggest fan of those interactions where you walk by someone and they ask "How's it going?" while continuing on their way. There's that unwritten rule where you should say something generally positive, ask them the same, and continue on your way. One of those pleasantries that only highlights its own social norm. Today was one of those days where I would answer "Okay" and figure that the conversation would either end there or continue onto something different.

Over the course of today, when I told a few different people that I was just "okay", I was kind of surprised to see the concern as they asked what was up. This included some co-workers in the housing office, but also the Director of HR because we just happened to be walking towards the same area of campus. Everyone seemed understanding when I said I was overwhelmed about the closing process (especially with being in my first year here), and it was nice to have people make sure I was okay. (I have considered the fact that while I think I'm covering up my overwhelmed self, there's a decent change that it shows to people who have seen me over the course of a year. That's not really here nor there though.) Anyway, it was a nice part of my day, so I felt like it was worthy of some attention, even in the confines of my daily blog.

Tomorrow is World Day for Safety and Health at Work. So, do something to promote a positive well-being for you and any co-workers you see tomorrow.

DFTBA