Something Stinks – When There’s a Dead Mouse in the Wall
A mouse fell into a wall cavity in our downstairs and died. My wife bought apple pie air fresheners. There’s nothing like the smell of apple pie with a picante of dead mouse.
Air fresheners disguise stink, but never eliminate it.
We open the windows when it’s not too cold, but there’s frost on the deck this morning. Mostly we don’t go downstairs.
Stink wins.
There’s no need to sniff for stink. You wake up one morning and say, “Something stinks.”
Years ago, my wife wisely told me, “You can choose to focus on the bad, or you can choose to focus on the good.”
It’s hard to smell the good when there’s a dead mouse in the wall.
When the world stinks:
#1. Manage things within your control.
Don’t complain about things unless you plan to make things better. We aren’t going to tear the walls apart to find the dead mouse.
We live in the country and in the Fall mice look for warm winter homes.
- Set mouse traps. Try to prevent problems before they happen.
- Open the windows. Let in a new perspective. The answer is often WHO, not what.
- Buy air fresheners. Make the best of nagging issues when you don’t have control over them.
- Don’t go downstairs. Avoid issues you can’t change, if you can.
- Wait it out. Continue bringing value while you wait for stink to pass.
#2. Maintain optimism without delusion.
Pursue audacious goals while remaining cognizant of current challenges.
When something stinks, you can’t pretend it doesn’t, but dead-mouse-stink isn’t permanent.
- The new person on your team isn’t performing, but with time, training, and practice they will.
- Your last meeting sucked, but with preparation, your next meeting will energize the team.
Stink tip: When possible, go to the source.
When is venting useful?
How might you show up with optimism today?
Bonus material:
15 Things Leaders Can Manage (and One They Can’t) (Jesse Lyn Stoner)
Perpetual Optimism (Colin Powell)
Is there a link for this? “When is venting useful?”
Thanks for asking, Chef. It’s a question for today’s readers to respond to. I felt like it was a related topic.
I did write about venting, but it’s only loosely connected to today’s topic.
https://leadershipfreak.blog/2016/08/10/doing-nothing-with-anger-is-better-than-venting/
Fun article for a Monday morning, Dan! I would change #1 to “Get a cat” instead of setting mousetraps. Adding a team member with experience with the issue could lead far.
LOL, Thanks Lisa. We love pets, but with traveling it’s a bit of a problem. However, I always like it when the neighbor’s cat is prowling our yard. 🙂
How might you show up with optimism today? Well starting at upright and respirating is a good positive sign for me. I get to enjoy the challenges on this planet, the joys of family, friends and even work. I get to because of the freedoms that were died for live and work in the greatest country on earth. Regardless of what is thrown at me and the general negatism of news and events I choose to embrace my challenges and just move one step forward in everything I do.
Thanks for your uplifting thoughts. My takeaway…notice and enjoy the simple things like breathing. Remember the simple things like breathing are really big things.
When is venting useful? Perhaps the first question might be – To whom is it most useful to vent? Are you venting to someone who will make things smell worse? In other words, one shouldn’t vent with someone who will poke the smelly carcass or who adds their stink to the mix.
Now, venting with someone who is well versed in listening, nodding appropriately, asking permission to provide another (less stinky) perspective can be an excellent thing to do.
My husband often holds food out under my nose (with no warning) and asks me to “smell this”. Sometimes we just need to know that someone else can smell something is off!! Then we can all move on together. lol
Thanks Jo Ann. Love your insights.
When something stinks, talk to the right people. … People who are involved or who have authority.
You got me thinking about sharing the stink! I would typically say, NO. But, you’re right, it helps to get confirmation.
When is venting useful? When someone listens that can make a decision or assist one in clarifying an outcome for a situation. No sense discussing if no one is listening and deciphering.
How might you show up with optimism today? Planning for a good day, having control of what is happening to start the day. Being prepared for the uncontrolled portion should the time come requiring our expertise or deferring to others to assist.
Can’t you smell what the “Rock” has cooking comes to mind! Some “Smackdown”!
Honestly living in the country has it’s challenges and un-pleasantries with all the good things too.
Thanks Tim. One of my takeaways from your insights is “Plan for a good day.” It’s easy to begin with negativity because problems are captivating. Think more about what you CAN do than you think about what you can’t do.
Bad leaders lead but they’ll eventually leave, get fired or die off.
Thanks Michael. That’s optimistic in a dark sort of way. 🙂
Dan, I admire how you pull leadership content from the everyday experiences of life.
Thanks Michael. I hope things are going well for you.
Your first point for dealing with a stinky world is to “manage things within your control”. As leaders we need to understand that somethings we really can’t control/prevent and instead we either must manage or, if completely out of our realm of influence, life with and develop our goals within the bounds of that environment. Our environment changes, and although we can influence our environment, we are not sole the creators. We can’t get caught up in the things we cannot do, but rather the things that we can and must do. If the mouse dies you cannot waste your time complaining about the mouse dying in your house. You cannot sail the ocean and curse the waves. However, I agree that we should not become delusional. Although we need to stay optimistic, we should still address the issue. And, to be a realist you would have to expect to vent your frustrations. “When is a venting useful?”, you ask. Well, it is useful when it can be used as a defusing ritual so that you may be able to think clearly before addressing the issue. Find an unrelated innocent bystander and tell them about your problems…lay it all out. You do not always need that person’s input neither; sometimes just getting it from the mind to the tongue can help us come to our own logical conclusions.