Take Time To Just Be

Talking on the phone yesterday to one of my customers he said, “they’re so concentrated on finding money, that they’re not focused on the day to day.” He was referring to the car manufacturer he works for in the state of the economy these days, but I thought it rang clear with my life at the moment too. My fiancé and I are so busy working to make the most money we can, in order to meet all the financial requirements we have, and to be able to save for our (near) future plans.

I work at a car dealership, with technical training as a Journeyman Parts Technician. Day to day, I’m reminded about the poor state of the economy right now: this manufacturer is going to be closed down by 2011, and in doing so is closing the dealership here in town; that small courier might have to shut down because it’s costing him the same to run his truck when it’s empty as when it’s full, and right now he’s only taking twenty parcels instead of his normal forty. I admit it’s a little worrisome at times. The thing that is keeping me going, however, is that I know there’s been other recessions or depressions, and I know there will be more in the future.

Another thing that is helping right now, is that my fiancé’s work is the busiest he’s seen it in the 7 years he’s been there. The start of their boom was at the time that everyone else was starting to slow down; his company hired ten additional workers at that point.

We need to slow down and just breathe, in order to enjoy this changing period in our lives. I was looking forward to this weekend, knowing that my fiancé would be home, and have at least one day off – we were planning on going to some open houses, buying that new-to-me car, and generally just hanging out together. He called me this morning on my drive to work saying that things had changed and he was needed to be part of the crew going out of town. He said, after noticing that I was a little disappointed about the new situation, that at least he’ll be making good money with the overtime.

My personal goal this week, is just to slow down: no fast food, opting instead to cook our own meals; take a walk three nights this week, and just observe that spring fever feeling; BBQ and make potato salad for supper one night – that meal just is spring/summer to me; I want to spring clean, junking out my craft room as I go; then when I get to the point that the room is clean, I want to make a card for someone that doesn’t live in town here and mail it off, spreading my optimism.
March 19, 2007