When I am very, very stressed, overwhelmed, or tired, I get clumsy. Not tripping over my own feet, clumsy, more like my hands turn into baseball gloves, and I don’t know how long my arms are, clumsy. I spill things. I drop things. I lose my ability to type with any degree of accuracy. Manual dexterity out the window.
Which is how I found myself in a mini-kitchen-meltdown. After an evening of fumbling through making dinner, making messes that I would not usually make, and generally feeling like I was trying to navigate my kitchen in one of those big blow-up dinosaur suits, I dropped a fork. After a series of other fumbles, this was the fork that broke the camel’s back. The camel, being me.
It was the fork that made me cry. Not hysterical crying, but a small bout of quiet, defeated crying, which turned into slightly unhinged laugh-crying, as I desperately tried to regulate myself, mentally reconcile the ridiculousness of crying over a fork, and reassure my 13-year-old man-child son, who was looking at me with a mixture of concern and fear. An awkward teenage boy side hug and several deep breaths later, I regained my composure. The world kept spinning, dinner got made, and I survived to tell the tale.
The Point
The point of this story?
The humans are stressed. Even the humans that are generally pretty good at holding their shit together.
In the broad professional landscape, 2025 has been a year of unprecedented uncertainty, and even if you and your organization have been wowing the world with your awesome agility and flexibility, uncertainty is inherently stressful.
We are coming into the holiday season, which can be equal parts magical and intense, and includes a solid dose of “reverting back to your childhood self” in all the good and bad ways.
How To Dial Up Your Soft Skills
- Expect Some Weirdness. Don’t be surprised if people are a little weird, a little off, a little irrational. This might show up as goofier or more irritable. It is possible that there might even be a small random episode of crying (see above for fork story). Reactions might not make sense. Expect the unexpected in big and little ways.
- Dial up the Grace: For others. For yourself. For the world at large. There is no better time to practice the art of “positive assumption.” ‘Tis the season to let the distracted drive merge with a wave and a smile. ‘Tis the season to be extra nice to the co-worker, barista, or server who is frazzled and a little bit curt.
- Prioritize Connection & Gratitude: The end of the year is a time to reflect and appreciate, even as we are deep into our 2026 planning. Say more “thank yous.” Practice the art of noticing small things and giving random compliments. Express gratitude for all the people in your circles who show up and do their best.
- Lean into Silly: Nothing soothes stress or pivots a mood like genuine laughter. Adulting is hard work, but we are still allowed to laugh at silly jokes, not take ourselves too seriously, and seek little moments of joy.
With gratitude,
AB
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