What are the magic gloves?
The other day I was in a cafe getting my “bocadillo y cafe con leche” for breakfast, as I like to do now and again! I always go to the same cafe as it is close by the office and for €2.50 it is also very good value. I know that in Ireland you can hardly get a cup of coffee for €2.50 let alone a sambo too!
But on this particular day I noticed something very odd. All the staff were wearing gloves to ensure the “highest hygiene standards.” I ordered my breakfast and was delighted to see that she was wearing the required gloves and hair net. There’s nothing like a stray hair to put me off my breakfast.
I then went to pay and that’s when I saw the magic glove. The glove is there to protect the hands right? To make sure that the staff conform to the “highest hygiene standards” right? So how is it that these gloves are magic that the staff can handle the food and the money without taking off the gloves!
Now this is not the only establishment that does this. In fact I remember seeing this a good 35 years ago when I was a kid buying deli meats with my dad in our local supermarket. He pointed it out to me and to this day I still remember him explaining it to me!
We all have a pair of magic gloves
I think we all have “magic gloves” something that we do, an attitude we have, an approach that we believe protects us from anything that may harm us. It is our protection mechanism which we believe keeps us safe.
Let me give you an example. I have often used humour to diffuse a situation that I am uncomfortable in. I try to make a joke about what is happening in order to pretend it is not as serious as it is. Honestly it is something which I believed worked for me but have slowly come to the realisation that it does not help in the slightest. I would make try to make light of situations, be in personal or even sometimes work related.
It was only in the last year or so that I came to realise that this “strategy” was in fact not working and could paint me in a light which showed that I did not really care or understand the severity of the situation. Sure I still use it, as old habit are hard to break, however, slowly but surely I am breaking that habit.
Here’s another one I have used, and I am sure many others have too. Procrastination – yes the big P word. The old “I’ll do it tomorrow” syndrome. It always seems that tomorrow is a better time to do things. This “magic glove” protects us in the here and now and allows us to put off what we fear. The problem, as you know, is that tomorrow never comes, and eventually action has to be taken and then it is usually too late.
Then there are the more dangerous gloves that people use to protect themselves – drugs and alcohol – but those are for another time and another post.
Take off your gloves
It’s time to strongly consider taking off your gloves, laying them on the table, standing up and facing the world with all the force and energy that you have inside you. You see those gloves you wear are not actually protecting you. They are hurting you, they are stopping you from growing and being the person you can be. Yeah I know it sounds strange, but the more you hide away from the thing you have to do, the less you grow as a person.
You ready to take the gloves off? Step one is to get more positive – sign up below to get my success newsletter into your mail box each week!