Savor the Success - Business Network for women entrepreneurs

"Mommy?" my daughter asks. "Can you do that ‘thing' you do?"

"What thing?"

Hmmmm--what is she asking--that "thing"? Does she mean when I cut the crusts off her oozing grilled cheese sandwich? Find her favorite green and pink frog underpants? Fill the bathtub with 98.9 degree water for her to play mermaid in?

"What ‘thing' honey?"

"That kiss, tickle, hug thing." She giggles and lifts her shoulders to her ears to get ready.

"Oh!" Then, the wild rumpus begins--hug--kiss--tickle--kiss--tickle--hug--hug--kiss--tickle! She shrieks; then, her voice flows into the sound of a babbling brook. "I need a rest," I say. "Mommy is tired!"

Ah! Sweet rest...I am reminded of the children's book, Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina and the importance of rest--even in business.

The story starts, "Once there was a peddler who sold caps. He carried them on top of his head. First he had his own checked cap, then a bunch of gray caps, brown caps, blue caps, and red caps on the very top. Caps ! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!"

Sometimes in business everything is clicking along at a good pace--we are doing everything right. The sales are coming in, we get a little PR, and business is pretty good.  And then, we run head-on into a collision-- into nothingness.

"One morning he couldn't sell any caps...Caps! Caps for sale!" No one was listening. So, instead of freaking out, calling his girlfriend, throwing paper out the window--he said, "I think I'll go for a walk in the country."

In business, we must remember that rest is important. Close your eyes. Breathe. Take a nap. Find your daughter's favorite fluffy blanket--the one with Clifford on it--snuggle in. Sleep.

The peddler walked for a long time until he came to a great big tree. "That's a nice place for a rest," he thought.

We must allow ourselves to rejuvenate, so we have a fresh mind to deal with new challenges--because those challenges can come from anywhere!

Well, when the peddler woke up, life was not looking good. "He looked to the right. He looked to the left. He looked behind the tree. No caps. Then he looked up. And what do you think he saw?" ...On every branch sat a monkey. On every monkey was a gray, or a brown, or a blue, or a red cap!"

Monkey business!

Monkey business arrives in many forms--late supplies, increased costs, an impatient client.

After a good rest though, we may just happen on an accidental solution or a new way because our mind--even though it has been at rest--it hasn't disengaged.

The peddler got very angry. He stamped his feet and shook his fists at the monkeys. They simply copied his antics. "At last he became so angry that he pulled off his own cap, and threw it on the ground, and began to walk away....But then, each monkey pulled off its cap." The caps fell like leaves under the tree. "So, the peddler picked up his caps and put them back on his head--first his own checked cap, then the gray caps, brown caps, blue caps, and the red caps on the very top." And, off he went--selling his caps--fifty cents a cap!

Sometimes you are doing just fine with your business.

Relax.

Take a breath.

Try the hug, kiss, tickle game, then --

rest.

Just rest.