15 January 2008

Traction

It's been on my mind lately, this idea of traction in life. Without it, any time you're knocked down, you're left scrambling on a super slick obsidian surface. If you're lucky, you're not on an incline. At least, that's how I imagine it.

Too much traction, you'll be stuck in place. Too little, and you won't be able to step forward without falling.

I suppose it amounts to experience and confidence, and in some arenas, mostly networking. Although it sometimes feels like I've had no traction in my adult work life, it's not strictly true. I just didn't like the traction I was finding because advancement opportunities were glacially slow (along with salary increases), not what I wanted to do anyway, and once dependent on dealing with a sexist idiot coworker who delighted in trying to make me look bad.

I just want a little traction to give me some direction, a bit of footing for that first step, but I reckon direction has to come first.

Two years ago on TTaT: Tagged
Technorati tags: ,

5 comments:

  1. Sometimes I feel like I'm slipping and sliding on a super slick linoleum surface.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sometimes when there is no traction you have to make your own. But you're right, traction with no direction is dangerous.

    Fingers crossed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. cheryl: lol. Now that, I sometimes do for fun. :)

    melissa: Making your own traction, quite right. And if not strictly dangerous, then often foreordained to be unproductive.

    ReplyDelete
  4. An interesting notion, one that I had never really considered. Is having traction the same thing as having some kind of grip on things and on one's life? This actually led me to think about the notion of walking on ice (thin, or thick) as a metaphor for dealing with life's uncertainties. I need to revisit this one.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Elisabeth: I think it relates to most anything where your ability to make decisions comes into play.

    Ice would be a treacherous surface indeed. Not only might you fall, you could fall through it. Then, can you swim? Hold your breath? Tread water? Can you find the hole you fell through before it ices over? Or another to emerge from before the cold overtakes you?

    ReplyDelete