FIRST STEPS I… AWARENESS

by Egi Gaisie

Holiday Decorations still up weeks after the event?

Do you still have your Christmas decorations up? We are in February! I have observed some of our public areas still have them up. It indicates a lack of management attention to ‘times and seasons.’

If awareness is the first step toward solving a problem, although you may not see this as a problem, here is an opportunity to pay attention to the impressions you are creating.

Language is powerful

The meaning of what we say is determined not only by the words we use but also by the tone of the voice in which we say them. Read aloud the message on the billboard image above.

Could the intention of the above message be… JOLLOF, made JUST for YOU!

It is critical that we not only say what we mean but that we avoid unwanted interpretations as well. And by the way, the excuse that ‘it’s not my mother tongue’ does not hold in our pursuit of excellence, does it?

A job well done is very gratifying

Until I read about rock balancing or stone balancing (stone or rock stacking), I thought the stones were held together by some adhesive or some other support. But they are ‘naturally balanced on top of one another in various positions without the use of adhesives, wires, supports, rings or any other contraptions which would help maintain the construction’s balance’.

The act of adding a small stone to a cairn, especially on a hilltop, is said to be a practice that dates back to prehistoric Scotland. It signifies respect.

This is admirable! Indeed, a job well done is very gratifying!

Now let’s have some fun…

Quiz yourself on ‘affect’ and ‘effect’.

  1. The rainy weather could not _______ my elated spirits on my graduation day.
  2. The author’s poetry about her pets has had a lasting ________ on me; I can’t look at hamsters without getting emotional.
  3. One of the side ______ of the new drug is bouts of giddy laughter.

Look out for answers next week.

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