So I haven't blogged much lately but the last couple months have been very interesting. When the whole COVID epidemic started, I found myself like everyone else, complaining, being fearful, panicking and I noticed my energy was drained even just sitting at home all day. I preach often about having a positive outlook, looking on the brighter side, and if you are unhappy, do something about it and stop complaining. After about a week of being home, I decided I didn't want to be a hypocrite and decided it was time to do something about it. So I applied for jobs in supermarkets and pharmacies because I was hearing that because of the overnight demands, they were short staffed and need temporary help.
I got hired at Walgreens for a 30 day temporary job.
It had been over 15 years since I had done retail. I have spent the time since then working for myself as a bookkeeper and doing fairly well. Although its mentally grueling crunching numbers all the time, it is not physically demanding and I make a good living at it.
Retail pays much less than I usually make but one thing about me is I am never above doing any kind of work to support myself and make an honest living. In my life, I have had some really bad jobs and some really good ones and every one of them has shaped who I am today and continues to humble me. This was no exception.
I went in with no expectations. Figured I would punch a time clock, do what is asked and punch out. Was this a new career for me? No. I wanted to not only make money and pay the bills, but keep my mental sanity in check from sitting at home all day.
What I didn't expect was to meet some amazing people, make some new friends and find myself a little bit more than before.
If you read my blog from a couple posts ago, you can remember that I was negative in the beginning and one night, I changed my attitude and everything changed from there. No need to repeat it all so I encourage you to go back and read it (and feel free to read others posts as well OBVI LoL)
It was supposed to be for just 30 days but as the end was nearing, the pandemic shopping wasn't slowing down so it was extended another 30 days. Even though my body was hurting from being on my feet, I decided to keep with it because I didn't want to go back to just sitting at home all day again.
I have always said that everything happens for a reason and this experience was no exception.
One night I was closing with a co-worker for the first time and she was showing me how to do all the closing procedures. We started chatting while we were taking out the trash and talking about ourselves. I had told her that I wrote a book about my weight loss journey and her eyes had widened. Ironically, she had been thinking for a while about writing a book about her own personal journey and didn't know how to go about it. I told her about the process I went through, and what I learned along the way and next thing I new, we felt like kindred spirits who knew each other forever. In the two months I was there, it was the only shift we ever really had together and I now know it was for a reason. We have now become fast friends and help lift each other up and stay accountable with our personal health goals and I am very blessed for the new friendship I made which never would have existed, had I never applied for this job.
By the end of the 2 months, I wasn't dreading the drive or the shift because there were now "friends" I was looking forward to working with. It was still physically grueling and exhausting at times but I laughed a lot at that job with new shenanigans, inside jokes and pleasantries.
Another plus with working in retail is I wasn't snacking like I was sitting at home. I only had my breaks and sometimes the choices weren't the best, but my caloric intake was much smaller that it was going into the job. Walking around and being on your feet really adds steps to the fitbit and before when it was hard to even hit 5000 steps a day, I was now surpassing 10000 steps in just one shift. After the 2 months, I didn't gain any weight, nor did I lose any but I knew that had I stayed home, old habits would have creeped in and so would have the pounds.
I also conquered a minor fear towards the last of my days there. I am terrified of heights and one of the supervisors needed help moving boxes up high and everyone else was afraid to do it. I was joking that I could totally handle it and when asked if I was afraid of heights, I laughed and said, "Oh yeah...let's see what happens." There were two pallets of boxes and I got up there and sucked it up, trying to play it cool, and one by one the boxes were getting up there. It definitely helped and she and I were laughing and joking the entire time and helped keep my fears distracted. So had it not been for this job and everyone else's fear, I might not have tackled this LOL
I'm sad that the venture of Walgreens is over but I am also happy to be back working on the book and business. I am very blessed that I was able to come out the other side feeling stronger and ready to keep up with the momentum.
I know the last few months have been really rough on people in many aspects and please know I am here if you need someone to talk to. I know we are not out of the woods yet with everyone going on around us, but what has helped me tremendously is putting all my energy on the things that I can control. I can control my mental health, I can control my physical health, I can control my attitude, my food, the way people and things affect me and whether I want to be negative or positive. By starting with that, It made me feel more balanced inside and therefore able to tackle other things.
It's been hard being on social media and seeing so much hate and division in every aspect and topic and in the beginning I found myself getting so worked up and trying to debate with people and now? Now I focus on me and the things I can control. When you do that, the world seems a little more manageable. So I choose to focus my energy on not only myself, but people around me and together we lift each other up and work on ourselves from within to be able to spread the energy outward.
Hopefully this whole mess is over soon and more normalcy comes back, but in the meantime, start focusing on you and your goals and let's start with changing ourselves first.
Happy Sunday Slayers!
For a signed copy of "Unzipped" check out the shop page and order your copy today! It will give you something to do and who knows, it might even help you be inspired or motivated to make changes for yourself.
Change your Mindset, Change your Life!
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