March On(e)

I'm having a weird, out-of-sorts day.
The weird part is, I'm off balance because everything is going very well for me at work. I'm a little uncomfortable with that.

I don't mean I distrust it when things go well (though sometimes I do). I mean I'm thrown off because I don't know how involved I want to be at the thrift store, and Things Going Well exerts a strong magnetic pull toward being more involved.

It's the sort of place you could pour all your energy into, your entire life. And you'd have some effect, yeah. But also... you know... not so much.

The waters could close over your head.

Hm. That ^ is an interesting sentence to hear myself write.

Wow.... Yeah. I'm grateful to my subconscious for presenting that image. I should take that seriously.

OK--so, what happened was, I did a terrific job yesterday. 

Saturdays are always The Wild West at the store, and even more so yesterday since the MOD [ = Mr Furniture] had an injured foot so painful, he couldn't walk. A coworker had dropped a bed frame on this manager's foot the day before. (It's like that at the store.)

The MOD  didn't want to tell Big Boss he was injured because he wanted B.B. to have the weekend off with his family. (Also, like that.) 
So MOD sat in the office all day with his swollen foot wrapped in an ice pack and up on a chair.

I did everything.
I dry-mopped the dirty floor and took out the trash.
I sold some furniture (first time!); put out free baked goods; put out books (not very many); 
and accepted donations at the intake ramp.
I went to the Somali restaurant next door and ordered sambusas for me and my coworkers (my treat);  
ran cash to the cashier, cashiered for his lunch break, and I got fresh ice packs for MOD and also a can of Coke...

Throughout the day, I also managed the "20% Off Sale" I'd put on FB/IG, celebrating our 1,000th FB follower. (As Social Media Valet, I take full credit. I do.)

I didn't know if anyone would see or respond to the ad, but they did. (You were supposed to show it on your phone, or mention you'd seen it, but we also told people if they liked/followed us they could use the ad.
I don't have the final numbers from the sale, but we added 19 followers, which is a huge haul for our backwater store.

But, . . . ick!
I don't like thinking in terms of "a huge haul".
Why am I even doing social media? Am I getting too much into an advertising/marketing mentality?
I don't know. 

At the end of the day, a coworker said, "YOU should be the manager."

OH GOD NO! That would mean wrestling with the octopus of dysfunctionality.

Meanwhile, fundraising has reared its head again: 
One of the new cashiers (N.C.) is floating the idea of applying for grants.

This seems like a no-brainer for a scrappy little store like ours.

Mz said of the photo I recently took of the staff,

"Wonderful!
It's like you guys are the Little League team that didn't win any games but are the cutest."

So, yeah, we need help, but getting help is another matter. I think but am not sure that this N.C. is a better bet than the last fundraiser, but I've been here before, and it wasn't pretty.

Anyway. I just don't know. It's  March 1, and a beautiful day out (for MN, it's 40ºF). I want to go back to bed. 

Probably a great idea--to be quiet. HouseMate is gone till late, so I could truly just be quiet.
(Also, I'm tired. Maybe a nap, and then a walk. That sounds good.)

What Pulls You?

Big Boss (B.B.) was asking me about Lent on Wednesday, which was Ash Wednesday. BB's nondenominational Christian church doesn't follow the Christian story in any chronological order the way the Catholic Church does.
He knew Lent was the 40 days before Easter. 

But what's the point? he asked. 

Lent, I said, is a time to get aligned with what you love, to head toward where you want to go, in the direction you feel pulled toward, like iron filings pulled toward a magnet.
He didn't know what the magnetic field looked like, so I pulled it up on the magic box I carry with me and showed him:

But there are lots of magnets out there tugging on our attention, I said, (B.B. nodded)--so Lent is a time of discernment too:
Is this attraction I feel a pull toward or away from Love [or, in Christian terms, toward or away from God]?  

To use St. Ignatius's terms for magnetic poles, is this a move toward Consolation or Desolation?

I just now looked up those Ignatian terms (to check I was getting them right) and found a list of What to Do When You're in a State of Consolation (a state that generates energy). I like these two:

1. Use the energy you feel to further your deepest desires. [what I said about moving toward the magnet]
2. Let the surplus energy fuel the things you don't like doing, and do them.

And, a couple steps for the State of Desolation that I relate to:

1. Look for someone who needs your help, and turn your attention toward them.
[I love that this is built into my job.]
.
2. Stand still and remember your inner map.

That decides it. I'm going back to bed.
Or, anyway, I'm going to read on the couch.

March on!
. . . Or stand still.
Whichever you discern is right for you.