Are some of our connections by happenstance? Or does everything happen for a reason? I always say the latter, but thinking about it, I believe in both! What may seem like happenstance at the time may later be revealed as Divine intervention. I worked in the same building as my husband for at least 8 months before becoming friendly with him, but then a few months later, he asked me to a concert – which happened to be my favorite band – and here we are happily married.

Other people in my life have seemed to come in coincidentally, but have been some of my biggest teachers… but I also believe everyone is our teacher, that there are lessons to be learned in each interaction we have, large or small.

There are many! I fall short of where I’d like to stay, although gratefully not as often as I used to. I do explore them and try my best to accept them, but I do not dwell on them too long, as this is not good for my sanity. Those feelings range from fear, anxiety, feeling less-than and unworthiness. I do, however, think it’s also important to explore the better feelings and accept those, as they are my truths! Those are confidence, courage, self-love, joy, enthusiasm, and, of course, gratitude!

I’ve been studying the Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali, and I was reminded of Sutra 28 when reading some of the comments below. It says “tajjapastadarthabhāvanam” which translates to “repeating it with reflection upon it’s meaning is an aid.” It talks about how repetition is powerful, and the writer reminds us – “As you think, so you become.” So while it is good to reflect upon our not-so-good feelings, we definitely should not repeat them over and over in our minds! Explore, accept, and move forward!

This morning I am grateful for good health, and pray for continued good health. I went to work yesterday after two days off and learned how many people at our store had called out because of Covid. Most of the front end team is sick, and I feel for the few left. Other teams in the store are dealing with the same, but not as bad as store support. I’m grateful my tiny team is well, and pray they stay that way! Even our Store Team Leader is out for 10 days.

At this point, with everyone at the store stretched to the limits, we are praying that those in charge of operations will temporarily adjust our hours, as other stores in the area have done. We heard that another region has already adjusted their hours because of the lack of proper staffing. I’m surprised it didn’t happen in the south first, as bad as things have gotten again down here.

Despite it all, I’m incredibly grateful to be in good health and am doing everything I can to protect myself! I hope you are all well and healthy, too!

I’m so grateful to be off this weekend. A rare thing for a team leader like myself in the retail grocery world. This schedule is actually the reason I had to take scheduling back from my assistant team leader, who got mad at me twice this past week because of the schedule. We run the Wellness department and have a tiny team (3 full timers and 1 new part timer). One of the full timers is our buyer, who has a set schedule, which means that my assistant and i have been picking up the slack on closing shifts since our most recent part timer quit on us. My assistant doesn’t like closing and gave me so much grief over having to do so! I had to take her into store leadership’s office to talk about it since I could feel what she was trying to do to me. It wasn’t fun, and it happened twice this week. On top of that we had a huge sales changeover and started a big supplement sale, and I worked extra hours to make it all happen. It was a long, stressful week, and I was exhausted when I got home last night.

I do realize that everything I’m dealing with at work are all lessons for me, and my direct boss helped point that out. I had told her not too long ago about my personal growth and learning to set boundaries and stand up for myself and what is right, and the other day she said something like, “don’t you feel like the universe is testing you here at work to see if you’ve really learned those lessons?” I had to laugh because she was right. It’s all a big lesson. All of it! And despite the struggle and weird energy, I’m grateful to be able to look it head on. I’m grateful that I have this opportunity to do what is right. And hopefully help my assistant grow into a stronger person as well. She is young and seems to have had a life so far of getting her way. It doesn’t work like that in the corporate world. We have to adjust or find something else!

This weekend, I am looking forward to relaxing, going to the beach for a nice walk with my husband and dog, and doing some work for my Yoga teacher training. I’m so excited about this path I’m on to become a yoga teacher!

Sitting here, breathing in and out, how effortlessly it happens. And how if I focus on it, I can change it. Slow it down, speed it up.

I just turned around to peek out of the window I sit at every morning, and the orange color of dawn coming from behind the tall pines at the front of our property also remind me of this miracle of simply existing. The sun rises, moves over us, and sets every day. A simple miracle of perfect creation and existence.

Grateful for this question today!