A couple of months ago I had a rough couple of weeks.

A flight home to deal with some heavy emotional family matters that left me questioning a lot of things I thought were previously unquestionable.

Feedback letting me know of areas where I have not been performing as well as expected.

Meetings where the shortcomings of this that and the other have been highlighted.

Being questioned on decisions I have made and processes I have chosen to implement and follow.

And I also realized (after watching one of their pre-season games) that my favorite Aussie Rules football team is again hopeless this year! It has been one after the other after the other after the other.

Right now, as I read through this litany of self-pity, it strikes me that you too could read this as a litany of self-pity. One important conversation ago, it was. One important conversation ago, I was struggling to find the positive spin on all the negative. I was humming my favourite Monty Python song but couldn't for the life of me find the bright side.

And then I had the conversation.

It was one I was not looking forward to. It had a good chance of being a difficult one. It was about how I had communicated with someone and how they had

perceived

the message - what they had read "between the lines" through my choice of vocabulary, FULL CAPS, turn of phrase and overall content.

They were quite blunt. They were honest. I listened. I disagreed. I agreed. I questioned. They answered. I listened. I learned.

The learning, through the conversation, was that the

perception

of what I had written had

become the message,

and not the message itself. My message and the reader's perception of the message were quite different - almost opposite, and the perception won!

This was the conversation that changed my litany of self-pity into something else.

It's not the first time I have learned this truth, but this time I think it will stick.