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Stop, Drop, and Recombobulate
25 June 2013
Allison read the “Recombobulation Area” sign at the General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, WI, and appreciated a good laugh as well as an important reminder for people trying to choose balance and leadership.
Tags: allison read, balance
Last year I visited Milwaukee to teach at a local hospital. On my way home, I passed through security and began stuffing my laptop back into my bag, getting my toiletries into my suitcase, hopping up and down to get my shoes on, and putting on my belt. (As usual, I did all these things while trying to make sure I didn’t drop something important, leave anything behind or slow down the people behind me.) While I was in the midst of this post-security shuffle, I looked up and saw this sign.
Like many passengers before me and around me that day, I did the double-take, wondered if recombobulate was really a word, and started to laugh. (Here’s the backstory on the airport’s decision to hang this sign.)
It’s not a word (other than in the Urban Dictionary), but maybe it should be. I was in Milwaukee last Friday to visit a friend and see my beloved Atlanta Braves play the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Once again, I posted the picture on Facebook and as usual the “likes” and funny comments popped up quickly. It’s a sensation at the airport (and in life) that seems to resonate with many of us and especially the clients I meet in our Choosing Balance and Leadership course.
You need lots of tools in your balance toolkit, but I think one of the most important ones is being able to notice it’s time to slow down, get off the figurative hamster wheel and regroup before you drop something important or accidentally leave things behind. Here are some of the ways I recombobulate. How do you slow down and regain your equilibrium?
p.s. This isn’t the first time airline travel has inspired me to blog about balance. It’s important to put on your oxygen mask first.
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