Be Ready

Chris:

When I was a kid, I played whatever season’s sport was up.  One year during baseball season, the announcer realized that his typical way of calling batting order, player’s last name followed by ‘at bat’, ‘on deck’, or ‘in the hole’, would not be appropriate given my last name (Seaman). In the hole was quickly modified to ‘be ready’. While I may have been momentarily embarrassed by this obvious (and a little funny) change, the idea of ‘being ready’ stuck with me and has been a mantra of sorts for me throughout my life.  The first day I met Michelle, I told her I was going to marry her someday.  While she laughed, I was ready.  When our daughter needed to know more about the birds and the bees, I was ready.  When Michelle’s parents needed more help that couldn’t be provided from 1000 miles away, I was ready.

Michelle:

So, what happens when my ‘always ready’ husband, isn’t?  When I went through a Zoom interview for a promotion at my work, Chris listened from the other room.  As soon as the interview ended, he came in to tell me that I had the job in the bag.  A few days later, my ‘ready’ husband was visibly off-balance, when they called to tell me that I wasn’t selected.  Following the phone call, I told Chris that their feedback was about how incredible my work is and how impressed they are by everything I do. They told me that I have made myself too valuable of an employee to your department and it just isn’t the right time. Chris asked me how I responded.  I replied, “I suppose I am just not incredible or impressive enough.  I guess you don’t see where I could be valuable to your department.“ 

Chris:

As I stood looking into the eyes of the incredible and impressive woman in front of me, I too, questioned what had happened. As a tear rolled down her cheek, I pulled her in close and said, “Are you ready?”  As she pulled away, I saw a look of confusion in her eyes. I continued, “Are you ready to catastrophize this moment with me?”

Michelle:

When Chris suggested that we catastrophize the moment, I was stunned.  I came home from a training and told Chris about a mental exercise I had learned that day.  The trainer said that when you find yourself lost in negative thinking find a partner and ask yourself, “How could this be worse?”  Then exaggerate it and see who can one-up the previous person at “awfulizing” the event.  The rest of the evening, we quipped back and forth, ways that it could be worse.  Each time we added something, our laughter got louder, lasted longer and made me feel so much better.  

“You could have burped in the middle of them talking.”

“I could have thrown up and been in person.” 

Chris:

Even in times of disappointment, an opportunity to just be ready can be discovered.  While neither of can understand her employer’s hiring decision, we relished the evening and are grateful that no one from her HR department were around to hear how awful we made things for them.