What ComEd can learn from a cancer survivor

It's been over a hundred degrees for three days in a row now, and, inevitably the power went out.  ComEd needs to take a lesson from a cancer survivor on capacity planning.

When you are going through chemo or radiation, recovering from surgery, or dealing with the emotional effects of a cancer diagnosis, you learn a lot about capacity planning.  There are days when just getting out of bed can be tough, and days when you feel like you can take on the world.  You need to become very selective about where you spend that precious energy.

My capacity plan was prioritized something like this:

1. Things that made me happy - time with friends and family, playing with my nieces, seeing a movie or enjoying a nice dinner out.
2. Things that kept me healthy - 30 minutes of exercise a day, getting enough sleep, seeing my therapist, playing with my nieces (emotional health counts you know)
3. Things that I needed to do to safeguard my assets  - work (paycheck and health insurance are important, especially when you are dealing with cancer.)

The rest of it -  laundry, cleaning, spending time with people who drained or annoyed me, worrying about things that really didn't matter, I tried to let go.  There is usually someone in your life with enough capacity to help with things like laundry and cleaning, and there is nothing like a cancer journey to guide you away from toxic people and worrying about things that aren't important.

So, ComEd, if you need some help with capacity planning, you let me know.  The rest of you, take a minute to think about where your energy is going, and if you need a re-prioritization, I am here to coach you through it.