Cynic-less

I must be getting old. I’m losing my cynicism.

Or rather, I’m refusing to be curtailed by it, and I’m stating this now so you can all point this out later on when I suddenly perform a dramatic U-turn.

Which reminds me, to the lorry driver in front of me this morning, yes you. The one who was veering all over the road, never indicated once and seemed to be braking randomly. May I gently suggest that suddenly throwing your three ton lorry to the left at a small roundabout, so hard that two wheels come off the ground and without any indication of your intent, may be the reason that some of the other drivers seemed a little irate? Particularly as, you had to cut right cross an entire lane of traffic to do so.. you big dangerous twat, you.

Right, where was I?

Ohh yes.

Part of our induction this week was a course titled “Kissing with confidence”, which was all about good personal communication with the aim of improving our presentation skills. Having done a fair amount of research on this topic early last year, it was interesting to see and hear a lot of what I read put into practise, and I thoroughly enjoyed the day.

However, a few years ago, I don’t think I would. I think the reason that has changed, and it’s a conscious effort on my part, is that I’m trying to ditch the cynicism and contrariness that plagued me in the past. Joining a new company is a perfect time to re-invent yourself, to take a look at how you conduct yourself and how others might see you, and then make some efforts to change what you don’t like.

It’s not easy, and it’s not always obvious what needs changed (but most of us know, don’t we?) but it is possible.

Of course I’m not suggesting, not for a moment, that a certain level of cynicism isn’t useful, in fact I’d say it’s downright healthy, but I do feel that a lot of people need to tread more carefully along the line between being cynical and being negative. I’ve stepped way over that line in the past, so I’m treating it with a little more respect these days.