"Grow a Pair and Get It Done"

I have 4 grants due in 7 days. This may be vacation time for many of you, but it's not vacation for me.  The grant season is running later this year, so I'm facing deadlines when I should be on a cruise ship sipping something sweet with a little umbrella in it served by a handsome young man with an exotic accent. Instead, I'm writing this on a Sunday morning while watching the Giants game, sipping Diet Cherry Pepsi from a can, and listening to my husband say, "Aren't you supposed to be working?" Yes, this is my life.  Pinch me.

Yesterday was supposed to be a big writing day for me, but I was way under the weather and not up to doing anything except coughing, dozing off, and dreaming about that cruise.  I woke up this morning, feeling a little bit better (but not much). I grabbed my iPhone to browse my Twitter account as I pondered staying in bed or getting up and getting to work, in spite of my health, and that's when I saw it.

It was a tweet by @EdDeCosta.  I don't know Ed, but I enjoy his tweets. I'm obviously not the only one because he has 28,930 followers. His profile says he's an ICF certified Executive Coach. Anyway, the tweet I saw this morning said:

"You know what you need to do. Grow a pair and get it done."

So much for lounging in bed all day claiming illness. The truth is that self-employed folks really don't get to enjoy the luxury of being mildly sick. We have to be seriously ill and unconscious to keep us from working because we know that no one else is going to pay the bills.  There is no such thing as sick leave or comp time for the self employed.

A couple of years ago, I had surgery and before I went under the knife, I asked the surgeon how long it would be until I could go back to work.  He responded with, " Are you self-employed?"  When I asked him what that had to do with his medical opinion of recovery time, he said, "If you have a regular job, you'll be out for about 5-6 weeks.  If you're self-employed, you'll be back on the job in about 5 days." Finally, a man who understood me and my life.

So, sick or not, I take care of blog posts and some lighter writing while I enjoy the Giants game (which our boys are winning, by the way) and then I'll get back to my office and get serious about grant writing.

As Ed suggests, I'll "grow a pair and get it done."

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