Thursday, September 5, 2013

40 Days of Gratefulness - Day 50

Ever have one of those weeks or two where everything seems amiss. I mean it just seems like every little thing that can go wrong does. It takes an hour to go a few miles. The car won't start. A shelf that's been up for years crashes to the floor. Oh, yeah, it's been a rough couple of weeks. Hmm, the contract end date is fast approaching, folks seem edgy... and I'm left feeling ... uncertain.

Grr, where was my swag? What happened to the 3rd grader (Day 9) who makes me laugh at the most mundane things? Yup, even me ... Ms. 'I choose gratefulness' had succumbed. Here I was stuck in magenta. I borrowed that from the TV show, The Golden Girls. Magenta is when you're not quite happy...  not quite sad or blue but stuck somewhere in between. I'm not hopeless but I can tell my stay here, in what I like to call, d-town has been around for a good 2 weeks. D-town? I know I name everything, maybe the 3rd grader still reigns. D-town is what I call the space I'm in ... discouraged.

It's that place where things don't go so smoothly, where I disappoint folks, where folks disappoint me, where I overreact and that place where I eat cookies every night for dinner.

What did I do to have all this uncertainty knock on my door? When was it leaving and why am I stuck? Isn't it interesting that no matter how old you are, how bright you are, how comfortable you are ... when you come across some thing you thought you knew but didn't - it makes you question everything. Why is that? How can one or two singular events stop you in your tracks? Why couldn't I remember all those little notes that kept me encouraged (Day 21)? Am I not the strong woman I thought I was? You know the one, who scoffs at sequestration (Day 14), has great energy (Day 46) and planks for fun (Day 22). Where was she?

She's on the sofa watching the ID channel. REALLY!! Watching the show, Fatal Frenemies is not a good look. If my roomie (Day 23) wasn't saved, I'd start locking my bedroom door at night. SMH

I know, I had just hit a bad patch - we all get them from time to time. But, I was sick of D-town, what I really needed ... was to turn things around. Ah, the engineer in me perks up. Let's implement the perspective modification plan. Never heard of a perspective modification plan, it's really easy to put in practice so let's give it a whirl.

Oh, woe is me, work is stressing me out. Really? Now, let's review the converse. Try not working, bet that would stress me out, even more. Yup, a perspective modification plan works every time. So what do I do to get my mojo back?  I go on vacation.

Travel light!
Yup, off to the beach on Spirit Airlines. Oh, it was the cheapest flight ever but one thing about Spirit, they don't disappoint. They make traveling easy ... only your seat is free. Better travel light for the baggage fees could make you cry or punch somebody in the face. Here's my luggage, with all my necessities - iPad, underwear and a bathing suit.

'Frolicking!'
'My Country Crush'
The beach was great. A few days away was just what I needed, I frolicked in the ocean, bought clothes at Wal-mart and had my first country crush with the ATV tour guide. I told him to move in closer when we took this picture ;-)

The beach was just what the doctor ordered but one or two days later ... I could feel D-town licking at my boots. Rats! I thought I had turned this thing around. The lawn service didn't cut my grass but billed me just fine. The t-shirts I was selling for church, were on backorder for 3-4 weeks. Aaargh. I missed my prayer partner - this was turning out to be a fine Wednesday and it was only 6:00 in the morning.

Oooh, D-town was rounding third base but then I remembered - let's turn this thing around! What did that perspective modification plan say? 1. Focus. 2. Pray So, I prayed aloud. I hadn't done that since I was a little kid kneeling at the side of my bed. It was magical. It set the tone for the day. I could feel the day turning around ... something incredible was on its way.

By the time, I drove to work, magically the t-shirts were no longer on back order. This day was getting better. I had lunch with a friend. We talked about everything and nothing but it felt good, connecting. I skipped to my meeting, this day was turning around nicely. And by the days end, I discovered that my contract had been extended just this afternoon. Woo-hoo.

Wait!! It gets even better. My prayer partner had emailed me a prayer, it actually hit my email just as I was having lunch with my friend. LOL {praise break} This prayer asked the Lord to extend my job and give me a salary increase. LOL Well my contract had already been extended, now what was I going to do with that salary increase? HAHA

So on this Day 50 of 40 days of gratefulness, I'm grateful for things turning around. #beblessed #40daysofgratefulness