The practice of principles
The big meeting I had recently did not net me the result I wanted or, frankly, was expecting. The decision makers chose the status quo not change. I had really wanted the chance to implement my proposal, and I’m disappointed that I don’t have it. I realize that part of what I’m wrestling with is a relatively unfamiliar feeling: not getting what I want. I'm not talking about not getting the doll I wanted when I was seven (I had been hoping for a Betsy Wetsy, but she was not under the tree for me) or not getting the lead role in the school play. I'm talking about not getting something that was meaningful to me as a seasoned professional, something that I believed my track record had earned me. In contemplating my feelings about this loss, I am realizing that, within my privilege of white middle class educated experience, I am much more used to getting, if not exactly what I want, then getting something close enough that I come out on the winning side and am, thus, able to easi...