Round 9 - Day 25

[Laura M]

Day Twenty-Five--I just hit the wrong key & typed "Twenty-Give"--ha--(Mon 10/15/12): 

*  Made a $5 charity donation at the grocery store to the food bank... you walk in the store & by the carts they have this stack of boxes that are written up as a $5 or $10 donation to the bank & you put it in the cart & the checker scans it with the rest of your groceries & then they save the box out of your groceries to put back in the stack at the front. 

I find some of my giving is a little perfunctory right now or I'm forgetting some because I've lost my own daily structure & am thinking about other things, but I am still doing it.  Today--If I can go grocery shopping for me... I can go grocery shopping for someone else too.

 

3 things I am grateful for this day:

*  Yep, the down side of Reality had its way with me today... Having a hard time getting up in the morning with no structure now & this Monday just hit me hard as an "unemployed" person with nowhere to go & no group to belong to, and for having this time off there are still too many "Not Fun" tasks that time up time every day--legal & medical matters from the car accident I didn't cause in the 1st place, issues with a health care provider that I didn't cause, billing problems with a provider that I didn't cause, monitoring my money more closely now, having to figure out a job search, and being alone more than I'm used to etc, with sitting at home in a a house that could use a good decluttering & clearing out as a fresh start but not a lot of energy to do it.  I did find myself having a good cry over Just Everything, but then I made The 1 Hardest Phone Call & crossed that off the list & went to the rec center to do my therapy routine & called that a good day.

*  Also called a disabled friend who's home all day just to chat & that got me connected to the outside world

*  Still very grateful for being able to turn up the heat when there's a nip in the air in the evening.... very simple thing but I do not take it for granted.

*  Taking my dog to the dog park at dusk for some "just-us" time.  Being outside is good.

 

 

Day Twenty-Four (Sun 10/14/12):

A few small Gives to the community as a whole:

*  Took some outdated bread & crackers etc to the park & scattered them for the birds and other small critters

*  My neighbors give me their extra newspaper bags & grocery bags to take to the dog park (always need plastic bags at the dog park to clean up after the dogs) & I brought them with me today to put in the bag dispensers

*  Went to bat for a way too small mouthful of an 8-week-old puppy who should not have been at the dog park yet:  #1 Posted Rules are that puppies must be 16 weeks old (so that all their shots are finished & they don't pick up any germs from all the pee & poop on the ground) & #2 That particular puppy was a whole 8 inches long & just way way too small anyway--too young to know she might have to defend herself and too tiny to do so from a Sunday-afternoon park full of rambunctious, curious, and/or not-well-behaved dogs coming over to bowl her over when she was hardly steady on her feet to start with.  I found a kind but direct way to state all this to the New-Puppy-Owners who may not have even ever had a dog before & they did take her out before she got hurt.

*  Gave a $1 to a charity drive at a check-out when asked

3 things I am grateful for this day:

*  That I did educate myself in the past on puppies and dog parks so that I knew what to say this time... last time, I knew the dog was too small but didn't know what to say

*  My mom... getting older & I do see that (sadly) & so I am happy to spend time with her while I can

*  Keeping up with my Gives.  The home repair on Saturday really wore me out, I am sad to say (still not as strong as I would like to be) & so I was kind of down today & had to change some other plans to adjust.  Remembering other people & creatures & caring for those I could let me at least contribute something to others on a not-so-great day.

 

Day Twenty-Three (Sat 10/13/12):

*  Did 2 banking errands in the a.m. & sincerely thanked both tellers for working on a Saturday so I could come in & take care of business

3 things I am grateful for today:

*  That I have a washer & dryer here at home, so I could immediately wash my clothes & take a hot shower & have clean jammies for bed after doing some especially dirty housework/decluttering for a good part of the day

*  Friends I could chat with on the phone through the day even though I was home alone working

*  Sorry to repeat myself, but--the beautiful fall colors

Day Twenty-Two (Fri 10/12/12):

*  Gave to a chocolate-bar fund-raising drive at the front of the grocery store by a school trying to raise money for repairs needed from water damage.  It was tough, buying chocolate & all, but I sacrificed myself for the cause.  :-)

3 things I am grateful for this day:

*  Got good feedback from 2 health-care providers on a situation with a new provider that did not feel right to me

*  Got a massage!  As prescribed by my Dr.  Another tough situation, I know, but you do what you have to do  :-)

*  That I still have all funds needed to take care of myself for today & into the short-term future.  As long as I keep my Mind out of "What-If-What-If-What-If-What's-Gonna-Happen-What's-Gonna-Happen-What's-Gonna-Happen?????!!!", I will keep my Body & Spirit happy & well.

I watched a video by a millionnaire motivational speaker about money the other day asking his audience to define why they wanted "wealth", and it was interesting to see his responses:  His bottom line was--you can probably have that right now, by how you *feel* about your life, not how much money you make.  Granted, some things are easier with a cash cushion, but the "happiness"/contributing to the community/cutting down on your own worry/realizing you can't control other people's worrying/etc things:  all these are inside jobs.  Very interesting.

Day Twenty-One (Thurs 10/11/12):

*  Did some decluttering (boxes I've never unpacked since I moved here!) & took 2 bags to the recycling center to be turned into something else more wonderful than what I've been keeping here in storage

3 things I am grateful for this day:

*  Getting rid of materials related to a multi-level marketing business I tried 10+ years ago & never quite go off the ground (oh, haven't we all???)... out with the old, make space for the new

*  I got an email back from that author I wrote to yesterday saying I had "made his day" with my story of how his book helped me

*  Going back to the coffee shop for a *2nd* chai to take with me while I was out running errands, just because it was feeling good.... how fun is that?

Day Twenty (Wed 10/10/12):

*  Sent a thank-you email to a professional who'd given me some good advice last month that did pan out well for me

*  Sent a thank-you email to an author through their website to thank them for some very good advice I'd gotten from a book they wrote that I ran into in the library recently at exactly the right time that did pan out well for me

*  Made a drop-off at Goodwill

3 things I am grateful for this day:

*  My personal trainer

*  My mom

*  My dog

*  That I did some real Gives today that I did actually feel

Day Nineteen (Tues 10/9/12):

Find myself a little pulled inwards this week.  Some grieving about my job loss, I think, & also some resting now after the shock & needing some stillness now that the dust is settling.

*  Put some extra change in the donation box at the drive-through when I did venture out today to do errands

3 things I am grateful for today:

*  Getting rid of a large item that had my prior employer's logo on it.  It was the yearly gift at the summer company picnic & I knew I would not use it; I called & asked if they would like it back now as unused, but they said no need.  Off to Goodwill it went, at their suggestion.  No need to hold on, as my next life will be calling shortly.

*  Giving my dog good time to run today at the dog park.  Just because I'm home more now doesn't mean he's getting all that much more attention & he still needs to get out.

*  Went to a class of a spiritual nature that was good input

Day Eighteen (Mon 10/8/12):

Busy day.  Got home & realized I hadn't done anything for a Gift.

*  Threw 2 quarters in my pocket when I took the dog for the p.m. walk & dropped them on the sidewalk at the bus stop corner for some kids to find (fun!) in the morning.

*  Also picked up that yucky bag of trash that's been hanging out on the sidewalk on a strip of the block where no one lives or works so it would be sitting there forever.  Since I was already carrying around a bag of poop anyway... :-)   It all went into the closest dumpster on the way back home.

And I say "I hadn't done anything for a Gift", but I will say these Challenges have changed me in this way

*  Most days (and I don't bother writing it) I am much friendlier to other people than I was a year ago.  Just chatting up strangers & clerks in the stores, etc, assuming everybody could use a kind word, shutting up if they seem to want to be left alone, just being more connected instead of separate when I'm out in The Big World, like we're all in this together & maybe we can help each other out a little along the way.

3 things I am grateful for this day:

*  That I've been tracking my money carefully in this 'transition' and when I sat down to reconcile my records again after only a week, I saw that the transfers of money into my checking account that I thought I had done a week ago (and that I had records of?) had not actually gone through?  No damage yet as far as I could see, as I caught it in the nick of time... but less than $50 to go when it should have been 10X that.

*  Enjoying the fall colors in my walks with my dog & otherwise

*  My home, heat, food for the day, enough money in the bank after all for today & for the near future, being able to finish all my strengthening exercises at the rec center & still get home in time to call a friend, hot water in the shower when I felt very very tired after exercising.  Would you rather have heat or hot water if you could have only one?  I decided I would keep the hot showers.  :-)

Day Seventeen (Sun 10/7/12):

*  I gave an invitation to a friend to join me at the movies this afternoon & we went out for supper afterwards.  She's been through some rough times (death of parents, single woman with some financial struggles in physically demanding self-employment) & I would like to invite her out more, but she would rather socialize on Sundays after she's had Saturday to rest after the workweek... which has not generally meshed with what I need to do to prepare for my own workweek... except now that I don't go in to work on Mondays...  Let's use that Opportunity while it exists.

3 things I am grateful for this day:

*  Got to hear a lecture of a spiritual nature this morning where the speaker referred to getting so exhausted her employer arranged for her to take the summer off as a Sabbatical.  I think I am going to play with that idea for myself--I am not "unemployed"...  I am on Sabbatical (arranged not necessarily on purpose by my employer, but by a Higher Power who will return me to employment some other way when I have finished the purpose of my Sabbatical)  OK, yeah, kinda airy-fairy there, but what if I let that actually be my mindset?  Huh.

*  Took my dog to a particular dog park we haven't been to for while just to check on 1 particular tree nearby that turns the most shocking shade of red in autumn that you can get in this area... It's only orange so either I missed it or I think it's still turning... Have to stay on top of this one the next few weeks.

*  Saw "The Master" & glad I did because I would not want to miss out on anything with both Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymore Hoffman (both so talented to me)... but wow.  Mini-review:  Uh, a little weirder & more, ah, 'artsy' than expected.  But yep, intense performances by those two male leads, which was the point of going.

Day Sixteen (Sat 10/6/12):

*  Kept it simple today--several quarters fell out of my jeans pocket as I was changing to leave the rec center & I decided to leave one of them on the floor for someone else to find... not all of them, as they might feel bad I'd dropped my money & didn't notice... but one is enough to still be fun for someone and not feel like someone else is out anything.

*  Gave to the shelter animals through Freekibble.com

I was thinking of 911Dispatcher today.  Anybody heard from her?  I miss her & wish she was here.

3 things I am grateful for this day:

*  My black dog against the orange fallen autumn leaves on the green grass that's still summer.  Beautiful contrasts.

*  Had my hair colored & cut & laughed and laughed the whole time with the stylist about a million things

*  Still made it to the gym in time to do all my strengthening exercises just in time (5 minutes to go!) before they closed

Happy Sunday--

L

Day Fifteen (Fri 10/5/12:

Good day.

*  Gave kibble to the shelter animals at Freekibble.com

*  Took my mom out to lunch to announce and celebrate "wonderful news!" about being released from a job that was not quite the best fit & because I made it sound so exciting, she is also excited & so won't be worrying about me.  And because the news was so great, she decided to be the one to buy lunch instead to make it a real "celebration" with me!  :-)

*  Gave my dentist & his office manager a Big Fat Hug when finally (after too many visits to mention, after too many months), the work is finally finished on an implant & crown that we just had a tough time with.  Big sigh of relief on that one.

3 things I'm grateful for this day:

*  # 3 above--that tooth being done after a year.  A Year, I said.

*  # 2 above--my mom appreciated the time out & I'm glad she's happy

*  Fall leaves, a beautiful drive to an errand, my house that heats itself when the 1st snow of the season happened during the night while I was sleeping, nice plans coming up for the weekend with friends.  Oh, and now that the Big Intense Paperwork is over with, I feel free to talk all I want about my job 'change' & how it came to close in a way that proved to be mutually beneficial to both parties in the end.  Which I what I do hold to be the truth.

Happy Saturday--

L

Day Fourteen (Thurs 10/4/12):

Slug day for me.... sent kibble to the shelter animals at Freekibble.com & that is all.  Stayed in my jammies all day for a day finally after losing my job & the only time I left the house was to walk the dog after dark.  Not depressed... just needed to *de*compress.

3 things I am grateful for:

*  My magic self-heating house (a heater *and* an automatic thermostat = warm enough all the time!)  Amazing!

*  The 3rd comforter I could put on the bed & burrow under in the 1st cold night of the season

*  That the neighbor kids that I bought cookies for in their school fund-raiser both brought me my purchases as scheduled... and hey, what's better to eat on a stay-inside-in-your-jammies-all-day-on-the-couch-and-watch-movies day than cookie dough?  Already broken into cookie-sized pieces--how handy is that???

All is well.  Happy Friday to everybody--

L

Day Thirteen (Wed 10/3/12):

*  Gave the gift of "No Need to Be Self-Conscious about Singing Out Loud" to a little girl at the rec center.  She came around the corner in the locker room singing (The Star-Spangled Banner of all things) and stopped short when she saw me and got a little shy look on her face.  So I jumped right in with oh, what a good singer she was, and that was the national anthem, right, and as soon as I lit up about it, she lit back up about it, and had all kinds of stories to tell me about how it was an assignment from her music teacher for her to practice it on her accordion (?!!!) although it was very hard to "celebrate its majesty" (her words) on an accordion.  And I tried not to laugh but I did & then we all did, she and I and her mother, and she held out her hand to introduce herself to me, and off she went to swim.

I'm trying to imagine it... The Star-Spangled Banner on an accordion.  :-)

3 things I am grateful for this day:

*  Fall colors

*  Intense Final Paperwork finished up and signed on a personal situation... now I can move on happily

*  Feeling--actually feeling--while I was waiting (that's the critical part--being able to wait in faith) on that Final Paperwork that all is well, at least for today, that 'God is in his heaven' caring as he sees fit for us all, and really for this very moment right now I have no worries.  One Day at a Time.

*  My personal trainer at the rec center who makes sure I am getting stronger without hurting myself.  Very grateful I can work with her watching my form 1X per week.

Day Twelve (Tues 10/2/12):

Not too much today.  Gave kibble through Freekibble.com & gave myself some extra time to stare out the windows at the fall leaves again.  Nice.  Also gave my dog an extra walk through the park because I knew my schedule today would be weird.

Day Eleven (Mon 10/1/12):

Happy October--a wonderful month!  Here's 2 fun gives:

*  2 times in the last week I have stopped at the same 7-11 for a snack to & from an errand way out of town.  I got the same clerk both times--and chatting her up Visit #1, she was worried about her car in the shop--maybe $300 for a fuel pump, not sure... today was Visit # 2 & chatting her up again I asked about the car & yes, it was had been the fuel pump + a sensor that actually came to $1000 or so.  So no, my gift was not money, but after I went to the dentist I found I just really wanted some ice cream on my sore mouth & at the store by the dentist's that I stopped at, what they had for individually-sized servings was only a box of 8 tiny ice cream sandwiches.  So I bought the box, had a few, then had a box of ice cream that was going to melt on the drive to my next errand.  So I stopped by the 7-11 as I was driving by & gave the rest of the box to that clerk... "MMMM!!!! Thanks!"  My new best friend.

*  Then later at the rec center, I helped a single dad with his daughter who was in the women's changing room where he couldn't go in.  I noticed this tiny little girl in a swimming suit (maybe 3? years old) going to almost each row of lockers & opening carefully the same corner shortie locker in almost all the rows & I could hear her dad calling her from outside the room, so I went out & asked him if she had lost something that I could help look for (her pretty pink plush swimming robe!) and yes, it turned out to be in the one corner locker in the one row that she had accidentally skippped.  They were both so happy & that was very fun.

3 things I am grateful for this day:

*  Being able to stare out the window at the beautiful fall leaves in the morning with no pressure to get up & get going

*  Finishing up my strengthening routine at the rec center with few side effects to work through this time

*  Getting back an email that moved forward that personal matter from yesterday & I am grateful it's moving

Day Ten (Sun 9/30/12):

*  Sent an email "just for fun" to one of my health care providers

*  Picked up trash when I walked the dog... wow, there's a lot out there.

*  Gave kibble to the shelter animals through Freekibble.com

3 things I am grateful for today:

*  Finishing some decisions & sending out emails that will let some other people take over from here on a personal matter

*  Taking a nap I apparently really needed

*  My TV is not working right the last couple days & I think The Universe is asking me to take some time alone now after the upheaval of the last few weeks

*  Well, this one's my dog's big gratitude for the day:  Every Sunday a church group has a picnic supper in the park & we find all kinds of dropped goodies on our evening walk or I'll peek in the garbage can for him just for fun--this week was part of a hamburger AND a whole hot dog.  Score!!!!!  :-)

Happy workweek to those that do--

L

Day Nine (Sat 9/29/12):

Well, I didn't realize about the "29 Smiles" challenge until about 2 days ago... and then I sort of forgot or just wasn't feeling it when I did remember.  Oops.

*  Gave kibble to the shelter animals through Freekibble.com (my go-to Gift 1st thing in the a.m.)

*  Donated 1 lb of coffee to the Komen fundraising drive at the local coffee shop.  I don't drink coffee at home, so mine will go into the basket of donated bags that count towards the fundraising goal but then end up as a Gift to a homeless shelter or something like that.  And it was the 1st day of the Drive, and mine was the 1st bag to go into the Donation Basket to get it started, and it's one of my "home base" coffee shops, so I felt really good about doing that with/for them.

*  Said YES to a woman panhandling in the parking lot at the grocery store & handed her a couple dollars

Happy Sunday--

L

3 things I am grateful for today:

*  Old friends I can tell the truth to

*  A massage

*  That I can buy what I need at the grocery store & have a place to sleep tonight, with heat, and blankets, and a furry black friend to curl up at my feet, and the autumn colors coming out, and my car that runs even thought it makes a funny noise once in a while but having the money to fix it if something is wrong, and the fun of having my massage therapist tell me I seem to look much better since I lost my job (HA!)... and these wonderful zucchini corn cakes as a splurge from the deli section of the grocery store.  (I even went back for more.)

Happy Sunday--

L

Day Eight (Fri 9/28/12)

*  Gave kibble to the shelter animals through Freekibble.com

*  Gave the guy at the hardware store the Respect of him probably having a better idea than me.  When I left my home for an errand this morning that was 30 miles away, I ran over a little stump on the edge of my driveway in a way that I could feel was not good to my car.  30 miles later, as I pull into the parking lot of my errand, I hear a weird noise coming from that area (well, at least I got there OK) & the good news was that when I got out of my car to look under the car, it was that part of a black piece of molding way at the bottom of the front body had been torn away from that half of the car and was now dragging on the ground.  (Happy to say, no other damage that I could see).  My thought was maybe just some black duct tape would hold it back together & wouldn't show too bad... although not ideal as far as looking pretty low-rent with a duct-taped car.

So I look around, Lo & Behold, there's a hardware store right in this little area, and I go in there & need help finding the duct tape because I've never been in there before, and as I'm checking out, the guy also wants to show me the very cool new patterned duct tapes they have now, which yes were way more Fun, but no, I don't get to have the fun ones because I think I need plain black to match my molding so I don't look like a total doofus & as I'm telling the guy my sad tale of woe, he asks me if I'd thought about some ripties to hold the molding to the car together better.  (Riptie?  What is that?)  But I had an appt time to get to, so I closed the conversation & went to the appt.

But after the appt, I walked (humbly) back over to the hardware store, found the same guy, said, "I was in a hurry before to get to my appt, but I think you may have made a good point about the ripties.  Can you show me where they are & what were you trying to say?"

And long story short, YES the ripties were a better way to fix the molding (in a way that doesn't even show), NO I did not even need the duct tape, and YES I took the plain black duct tape back and exchanged it for some way funner zebra-patterned duct tape just to say thanks for his advice on both counts & end on a happy note for us both.

The End

L

Day Seven (Thurs 9/27/12):

*  Gave kibble to the shelter animals through Freekibble.com

*  Gave my dog extra-long pets & belly rub at the park today--and why not??? Like I don't have the time??? :-)

*  Gave the Gift of attention to the checkout clerk at Kmart (where I stopped to buy another "thanks a latte!" greeting card to go with a gift card later)... and got a Big Fat Receive for the day, too:  So I walk up & this woman is looking off at the exit door, still smiling from her last customer, and once I had her attention & we get going, I ask her with all sincerity, "And so how's your day going?"  "Wonderful!", she exclaims.  And I said, "So what's the best thing that happened to you today?"  And she says "Waking up this morning."  And I looked at her--"oh yeah?" And she says, "I am 74 years old.  Many people do not live this long, or even to 54, or 64, and I have.  Many people that live this long are not healthy, and I am.  And many people this age who are healthy do not have a job or an income, and I do.  So everything is just Wonderful."  And I looked at her, thrilled to death for her and her happiness, and with the line growing behind me and a glance at her name tag, I said, "Well, Margaret, it's been an absolute pleasure chatting with you--may you stay healthy, wealthy, and wise."  And off I went, with another big smile she'd passed along.

Totally cool.  I think she's my new Role Model for what to Be when you're 74 years old.

L

Day Six (Wed 9/26/12):

Happier day today--Deb & all: you were right--just needed a little rest!  Had a business appt in the a.m. that was rescheduled from afternoon to morning & so I took myself to the afternon movies to get someone else's story in my head instead of thinking too much about my own (Rating I'd give Trouble with the Curve:  B & quite the deal at the $5 matinee price).

*  Chatted up the guy at the snack bar at the movies just to be human-to-human, asked him how his day was, he was quite happy to go on about how he felt pretty good about having some down time to clean up his area & it actually was a funny real connection there for a minute

*  Gave to the shelter animals through Freekibble.com

*  Also gave to my own dog by getting him out for playtime with other dogs to give him a break from *me* full-time now

*  Have a pretty good habit built up now of always waving and throwing a peace sign when somebody lets me in in traffic.. I like that.

*  Sent some business thank-you voicemails that needed to be said & after-hours voicemails took care of it

Good enough for today--Happy Thursday to all.

L

Day Five (Tues 9/25/12):

*  Gave kibble to the shelter animals through Freekibble.com

*  Offered my phone number to a woman at a class I was at tonight, but she did not want it.

That's all that came my way today.

Happy Wednesday--

L

Day Four (Mon 9/24/12):

*  Gave kibble to the shelter animals through FreeKibble.com

That's all that came my way today (Oh plus a nice thank-you at the rec center from the girl I gave the gift card to 2 days ago.)

L

Day Three (Sun 9/23/12):

Very wiped out today:  Relief + Exhaustion + Paperwork still pending from my (un)employment situation.

*  Gave kibble to the shelter animals through FreeKibble.com

*  Gave away a "You are A Gift" button from this site by sticking it into a tree trunk near where I was sitting in the park to read & write & meditate this afternoon

*  Gave myself the morning to sleep AND another opportunity for a nap

*  Gave my Mom the fun of my usual Sunday visit, with the Gift for her of leaving her still unburdened for now of any news of my job 'change' until she's been sufficiently 'prepped' RE issues at work that would leave me happy to move on should a Higher Power take me out of there

Things that came my way today that I chose to Accept or Receive (the practice of "Just Say Yes"):

*  Went into the gas station & the clerk wanted more details of what loyalty programs I belong to (What?  Can you just leave me alone?  No, I don't want to talk about this right now, I just want to pay for my gasoline.. OOPS, I said "no"... better back up) & it turned out that I can get points or cents off my gas price by using my grocery store loyalty card at that gas station.  Good to know when income is not regularly scheduled at this time.  Thank you very much.

* Went into the office supply store & the clerk wanted to know if I needed any help (No, I'm an adult, I can look around on my own), but I told him cheerfully & deliberately what I was looking for & he led me to the display with the best posted price for what I had said I wanted.  However, on the way to where I let him lead me, I saw something more of what I was looking for & it turned out that on clearance it was actually even cheaper--$1 total with tax for a nice 3-ring binder.  Thank you very much.

I'm noticing already by working/noticing more on this side of the Receiving/Giving circle how impatience seems to flare right on up there on some of these opportunties to Receive:  "No, I don't want to talk about it, I don't care what you know, I can do it all alone, I don't want to take time with you blah blah blah blah blah blah" in my own head.  As in, (appparently) "I know it all & have More Important Things to do than talk to you, little person who thinks they know something I don't and even if you did, I don't Need anything from you anyway" WOW what a very old habit THAT is.  Because I *don't* know it all, they *do* know their industry & specials, and No, I don't have More Important Things to do than talk to the fellow human in front of me ("Be kind, for everyone you meet is facing a brave struggle"--Plato, I think).

Interesting.

Happy workweek to those that do--

L

Day Two (Sat 9/22/12):

*  Gave a $5 Starbucks gift card & a "Thanks a latte!" thank you card to the staff member at the rec center who had to find the boltcutters the other night to help me break my lock off the locker when I'd locked the keys inside.  (Good thing, or I'd have been walking home in the dark in my swimming suit.)

Things that came my way recently that I chose to Accept or Receive (the practice of "Just Say Yes"):

*  When I was having trouble getting the loaner lock to push shut, a woman at the end of the locker line started yelling at me at how to get it to shut.  No hello, no asking, just yelling across the room at me.  Surprisingly, I did not get annoyed but got humble enough to just listen & Yes, her way worked, and I said Thanks so much, and I was off to the rest of my workout.

*  I went into a fast-food chain the other day that I don't usually go into, and apparently they are a little more service-oriented at this chain (which threw me a little bit) & so what's my name, and they were going to bring my food out to me if I wanted to get seated, and when I stopped to get napkins & a straw, the clerk said oh, we'll bring that out to you, and meanwhile my order came out on the tray & she was walking it to the table & since I had a newspaper too she offered to carry that too.  It was kind of weird & unexpected for me & so part of me was saying out loud, "Oh, No, that's OK," but when I heard myself say it more than once, I stopped and handed her the newspaper and said, "OK, well, thank you very much."  Just Say Yes (not No).

* I went into a sporting goods store to exchange a resistance tube that broke a few weeks after I bought it, and I was going to get into the big long line, but then this clerk came up to help me (and there is that part of me that has tended in the past to be, 'No, that's fine, I've got it, can't you see I'm standing in the line?'  Like I said--I can carry my own newspaper to the table, etc) so since she asked if she could help me, and instead of being rude, I told her I had a return or exchange, and it just so happened she remembered being the one who sold me that tube (???) and she took me over to the display to choose the right replacement & exchanged it for me & went around the line to get it done & sent me out the door & meanwhile we're chatting along about how I'm SuperWoman for breaking the tube quickly hahahahaha & it was a much more pleasant experience than if I'd Resisted. * I was at the checkout stand of a store I go to a lot & the clerk who knows me said, "HEY--there's this coupon right here for that for $3 that somebody left behind & didn't use, so I'll put it on yours instead", and saved me the $3 before I even understood what was happening.

There's that tendency to say Oh, No, that's OK,--OR--there's the option to Just Say Yes & Thank You Very Much... and let the Giving from somebody else Circulate to me too, if I let it.  I'm trying to let go & go with Yes, Thank You Very Much.

Happy Sunday--

L

Day One (Fri 9/21/12)

Well, I'm back.  Took a couple days 'off', but Round  #9 seems to have started when again my Body jumped in before my Mind had 'decided'.

*  So I was in the Target check-out line behind a very young woman & her baby & she had a handful of coupons & gift cards & then paid the final reduced total with her debit or credit card.  And I made small talk about her beautiful baby while her payment was going through and she's smiling because yes, her smiling baby loves her, and then there was a problem & all of a sudden the checker was on the phone calling for help & turning her register light to "Blinking" to signal it was this line, right here, this lady, where there was a problem, and her face falls & she's asking what the problem is.

And there's always that self-conscious feeling for me when that's happened to me--it's never been a matter of my account not having the money, it's always a problem with their system processing the payment somehow--but you're still standing there feeling like you look like you have no money in your account.

And she turns to me to apologize holding up the line, and before I knew it was happening, the Giving Habit kicked in & my Body just jumped in & started talking as a Gift to ease her self-consciousness--I told her just very cheerfully and matter-of-factly just what I wrote in that paragraph above--"oh, no worries, I know when it's happened to me, it's always been some kind of problem with their system, but it leaves you standing there feeling bad like you look like you have no money in your account & feeling self-conscious in front of other people.  I used to have a lot of problems with writing checks at one particular store because when I signed my name, my signature would go down into the banking numbers, and somehow their system just couldn't get past it, and they'd be putting it through 2 or 3 times, and finally have to put it through manually, & THEN they'd tell me they keep having trouble with their system that way, but meanwhile the line is waiting & you feel like it looks like your check is bouncing, but it's never that, it's always their system; finally I just quit writing checks at that store & started using my debit card" blah blah blah & meanwhile she starts smiling again & the manager comes over to the checker's blinking light to help her while we're talking.

And so then the payment goes through & everything's fine again & the checker says to her, "Yeah, that's the 2nd time that's happened to me today on this system" (!).

And the young woman, still smiling again now, turns to me & thanks me for helping her feel better.

And off we went.

*  Also watched myself pass over a parking spot at the library that was in the shade so that someone else could have it on a hot day & parked my car in the sun (where did THAT come from?  Oh, yeah, those habits from 8 rounds of Challenges).

Intentions for this Round:

*  Keep it simple this time:  To just keep myself out Circulating in the world and focused on all that I *do* have & what I can Give or Contribute or Add to the world in this time of transition & to keep my money and belongings and cheerfulness Circulating in the world instead of contracting into worry about MeMeMeMeMeMeMe

*  To keep myself part of this Very Positive community!  I love keeping up with what other people are doing every day.

*  To Be what I want to Be right now instead of wondering what I'm going to Do now

Thanks for everything,

L

[IslandGirl]

On behalf of the person who gets those groceries - thank you! I find that getting outside is a real key to well-being... glad you were able to do so.

[Lois55 wwt]

You are doing so much better than I would. You have great strength and fortitude. I love the fact that you made sure someone else had groceries..very inspiring and generous.

[Deb~ Community Manager]

Your grateful list in turn makes others graterful as well. Thank you for that, Laura~ xo