Moment of Truth

This afternoon Kid came over to my place for our heavy chest workout of the week.  First time we have lifted together and it was amazing.  We always text one another about and during our workouts but to have him here in the flesh was a huge boost.  I set new personal bests in almost every exercise.  My bench is up to 170 as I push towards my goal of 225 by summers end.  This was a perfect day off from work, I am completely satisfied with myself after a great workout and I know it was just as good for Kid.  The pure workout.... so good.

It was a welcome break from work after five tough days.  There was a big promotion going on from the 30th until the 4th and the company has some very high expectations for productivity.  The prep work to get everyone ready for this event was going on for two weeks before it started, and everyone was pretty excited for the results.  The July 4th weekend is a very busy weekend in general with the kind of traffic that we expect every year and to have this event going on it raised the intensity level. 

Needless to say, work was swamped the past few days.  On top of it we had quite a few call outs to add fuel to the fire.  The pressure was on from our General Manager to reach our daily productivity goals and despite a good effort from the team we were falling short.  Saturday morning I opened which involves the front end area of the store ready for the day, counting registers, getting all the paperwork filled out and logged, making sure the supplies are well stocked.  I managed to get it all done but we were hit by early morning crowds and a couple of cashier call offs for good measure.  I was confident that we were all doing our best and working hard despite the heavy workload, but we still only had one Plus membership at noon to show for it and our goal was 30 for the day. 

The GM pulled me to the side to ask what our current number was.  Now I am a no bullshit kind of guy for the most part, especially at work, I hate excuses and rarely offer any.  So rather than make excuses I tried to be confident and positive and let the him know that we just needed to get a roll going, we needed to get a little motivation started, we could still have a good day.  His response was very negative to me.  Frustrated or not his negative attitude instantly pissed me off.  I walked off and soon after went on my lunch break.

Now I am pretty upset but trying to shake it off.  In my head I am feeling unappreciated, insulted even, and completely unmotivated.  "I have been busting my ass for the past four days and this guy is gonna question that?"  The "fuck it" attitude was pretty intense in that moment.  I honestly felt like giving up, just shutting it down and riding out the rest of my shift as easily as possible and than getting the hell out of that place until Monday.  This is the moment where it was decision time.... that little moment of truth.  And it was an ugly moment there.  I could give in to the fuck it attitude or I could rise above.  My break gave me the perfect moment to just take a step back and re-evaluate things.  I chose to rise above.  I sat in the break room and just put it behind me.  I laughed and joked with a couple of my co-workers, listened to a couple songs in my iPhone and bounced back.  I kicked it into overdrive for the rest of my shift. 

A couple things helped me through this, the positive people around me and my ability to recognize that I was being a punk and making that conscious decision to turn it around.  When I left at 330 I think we had 10 of those "oh so important" Plus memberships and things were looking up.  I didn't let that one moment ruin my day and take me off my A game.  It was a tough day but I am pleased with the way everyone worked hard despite the slow start.  To me it was a good day.

I think that in life we are presented with those little moments of truth on a regular basis.  How we respond can often dictate the way our day will go or even the result of a job or task at hand.  It is important to stay positive, and have the ability to keep yourself from giving in and surrendering to the negative.  If you can do that consistently you will be surprised at how much better you will feel about your life in general.  I strive to stay positive each and every day and to stand tall during those moments.  Life is in the details, so live it strong!