Two hours ago...

Two hours ago, I would have written a very different post. Two hours ago, I arrived home from work, exhausted, stressed, and in a very crappy mood. There was a TON of negative energy today at the store, and it was extremely stressful. One of the supervisors got me to a point that I had to walk away, so that I didn't say something rude to her. She made a very condescending remark to me, about where she was putting people to stock and on the floor, and just irritated the hell out of me. And then I just had customer after customer who were rude, or cranky, and I just didn't want to deal with them. I had several wonderful customers, patient and nice. It just didn't outweigh the negative energy today.

Side note: Please remember as you shop this holiday season... We sales people are (generally) working very hard to get things done. If we don't have an item in stock, please remember that it isn't anything personal against you, and it's definitely not the fault of the salesperson. We do the best we can, and we also have to try to maintain the store, the stock, as well as juggle customers, phone calls, and coworkers. I left work 20 minutes late tonight, and would have stayed later, but probably would not have offered the best customer service I possibly can. So if things get stressful, take a deep breath and remember that we're trying very hard, and most of us genuinely care about our customers and getting them the products they want.


//end public service announcement.

Anyway, on to why this post is so different from what I would have written. I called my dad as I left the store, and was inspired to go run, rather than collapse on the couch with a beer or several glasses of wine. I don't know how our conversation inspired me to run, but it did. After changing clothes and relaxing for a few minutes, I headed to the gym in the apartment commons building. There was a guy there, on the bike, and he offered to turn down the radio that was blaring behind the treadmill. I declined, since I had my iPod with me, and the intent to blare my music as loud as possible.

At first, I didn't have a real plan. I was going to get on, and just run. Nice steady state. After a few minute warm up, a song that I love to run to came on. (Don't laugh, but it's Dirty by Christina Aguilera-- I just love the tempo) So I cranked up the treadmill and ran hard. Damn, did that feel GOOD! I decided at that point to run song intervals. Run a song hard (between 7:41 and 8:00 minute miles) and run a song easy. I quickly ran my fastest 5K ever-- sub 26:30. Whoo!

So 4 miles came.... 4.5 miles went. At 4.6 miles, Pride (In the name of Love) by U2 had just ended. I vowed to run my hardest til 5 miles, and prayed for a good song. I can't remember which song came next, but I ran it hard! (7:41/mile) At the end of the song, I told myself to keep going, and hit 5.6, so luckily one of those cheesey pop songs with a really upbeat tempo came on, and I finished the full mile at 7:41. YAY!! I slowed down to 8:53 to cool down and finish out 6 miles, then walked another .25 miles to cool down. I ran six miles in just over 50 minutes. That's the fastest I've ever finished six miles!

It was such an exhilerating workout, it made me feel so good! It wiped away all the negative energy I was feeling after today, and made me so hungry! Right now, I'm munching on some strawberries, debating about what to make myself for dinner.

I just had to share, and hopefully I'll get more workouts in this week, so that I will be in a much better mood when dealing with my customers.

Let's make a deal. You be nice to your salespeople, and I'll be nice to my customers, and who knows? We can start a chain reaction that makes people remember that it's JUST shopping. Christmas isn't about what you get. It's about remembering what's important in life.

Have a good one everyone, and stay safe and warm and drive carefully!