Get out the way... got important owl shit to do.

'Get out the way... got important owl shit to do'. I said with confidence...as I strode past head down... bum up....

Well Ok I did not exactly use that phrase...but the words sum me up beautifully. When I saw it... I had a giggle it is so me!

Is it only me or have you to been told you are too 'task orientated'? Yes when I am busy I tend  to be abrupt and have a 'get on with' attitude. Don't get in my way...you are likely to get trampled. Those statements were me for many years. I had boundless energy, my catch phrase was 'let's get organised' and 'start massive action'.

In my maturity I have mellowed, and that is a relief to me, everyone around me especially the family and the Universe. I even had a crack at being Master of the Universe for many years.

Seeing this phrase got me thinking...where did it come from? My Dad initially, and nursing in the 60's simply honed those skills the enth degree.    

My childhood was difficult and littered with serious challenges. When my Dad said do something...you jumped and did it pronto... preferably you pre-guessed and did it half an hour ago. True I was motivated by fear, not desire. That started  my 'organising gene' as I would try and prevent trouble by 'doing in advance' and having a contingency plan for when I guessed incorrectly.

Going off nursing I thought would be a walk in the park after my Dad...then I discovered he was a light weight compared to The Matron! She was seriously scary! My pre-empting, planning, organising and doing... became legendry...equalled only by my uncanny ability to get into trouble. Officious and efficient would come close to describing me. Nursing stories are not one liners so they are stories for another day.

That task orientation, no nonsense approach was often misconstrued as severe, intimidating even...when I was simply doing what I needed to do. And those disciplines so firmly entrenched stood me in good stead for life challenges that ranged from the miniscule to the monumental in the ensuing years

Going back nursing after a 15 year break, the task orientation which served me well in the past was now frowned upon! The nursing profession had changed in that time and head down, bum up was not the way to do things now...I was forever being told in my appraisals.

When I met my husband...he used to say he was doing the nursing profession a favour by marrying me and taking me out of the system. Even marrying becoming a corporate wife, having his four teenagers living with us, and a year later a baby still did not consume my energy. I believe I heard him mutter at times ' I should have left her there!'  

Despite that we had a fabulous relationship, met out highs and lows in creative  ways and came out the stronger....my 'get out the way... got important owl business to do' gene all but disappeared after his death in 2002.

I am pleased to say I got it back in a modified version, today I am likely to pop you gently aside and move past with a smile rather than create mini cyclonic conditions as I went about my important owl shit.  And yes  my confidence today is a quiet knowing confidence, it just is!

Are you...or have you been too task orientated? 

Your turn...How do you respond when you have 'important owl shit to do"?  I do love to hear from you and hear your experiences.