Archive for the 'A Kick in the Butt' Category
-image-What’s the Family Discount?
You know, life is very different when you look at it from behind a retail counter. Or, maybe, it’s just that I’m made much more aware of just how many different people there are out there. I don’t know, but I have some weird incidences happen at the store.
For example, a few days ago, a man came into the store (an unaccompanied man is a strange occurrence - mostly it’s women who are interested in our shop), he walked right up to the Stainless Steel Water Bottle display and started looking at the prices of the different bottles (we sell a few different sizes). He finally settled on the one he wanted and looked at the price.
Then he picked up a second bottle (in the same size) and looked at the price again. (I of course have nothing else to do in the store but watch what people do, that’s why I can narrate this back to you in detail.) He hesitated and put the second bottle back. And then, this is the really strange thing, he looked at me and asked:
“Do you give discounts if people buy more than one?”
Isn’t that odd? I mean, who does that (outside of say China and the Caribbean)?
I laughed (he said it half jokingly) and then agreed, as if it were just between he and I, that if he bought more than one I’d give him 10% off. At which point he decided to buy three of them.
What would you have done? In my situation it certainly made sense to give him a few dollars off and make the better sale. Besides, I’m convinced he really wanted to buy two and needed some reason to give himself permission to pay for the other one.
But you know, he’s not the first person to ask that. A few weeks ago a man came in (it’s always the men!) he looked around for a bit and seemed like he wanted to buy a few things. He was looking at the Klean Kanteen Sippy Cups (always with the stainless steel bottles - you guys are going to think I sell nothing but those bottles) and taken aback at the price asked if he could have the family discount.
I chuckled (this actually was funny for two reasons, the first I’ll get to in a moment, but the second is that Wakizashi told his family that the family discount was plus seven percent), and pointed out that considering he was a considerably black man and I was what you might call “Lily White” I didn’t think he’d pass as family. To which he responded that there are lots of inter-racial marriages and we could be step-siblings (got to admire a man’s persistence!).
He followed that argument with a swift comment that he might work in the mall; don’t I give discounts to others who work in the mall? In fact, I do give discounts to others who work there (because they do the same for me), but I don’t really work in a mall - it’s more a hallway with a handful of stores in it. It’s technically called a Marketplace. It’s not like he could fool me into believing he worked there.
But, after telling him I didn’t think he could have hidden from me at the other stores (he was a big, black man who clearly worked out a lot), I did tell him that I’d give him the discount if he really wanted it. Apparently, this made him really happy because he proceeded to make a huge purchase (he was making gifts for some women he knew).
I didn’t really think about it with the first guy, I knew it had paid off to extend the discount to him (he came back again to buy more for the gift bags), but I hadn’t really thought about it. It wasn’t until the second guy, the stainless steel guy, that I really thought about what had happened.
The first thing that popped into my mind was: Hey, why has it never occurred to me to ask other small store owners for discounts? I bet most of them, like me, would agree in exchange for the business. Which made me realize: You never know what you can get until you ask for it!
I mean, it’s just not a normal occurrence to think we can walk into any old store and ask them to charge us less than they are charging other people. But there are a lot of other things that we don’t get simply because we don’t ask.
Maybe you could be living your joyous and abundant life right now if it had occurred to us to just ask God for what we wanted instead thinking it was improper to ask. Maybe, we’d be getting the 10% discounts and the free family benefits if we’d just piped up and said, “Hey, do you happen to give out careers that involve creating, and being with people, and are a ton of fun?”
Truth is, you don’t get anything you don’t ask for. Sure, God knows what you want, but that’s not the point (after all, every one wants to save 10% - that doesn’t mean I’m just handing it out to anyone who walks through the door!), there’s a powerful shift that happens - even just inside of you - when you draw up the courage and ask for exactly what you want.
That reminds me… years ago when Wakizashi graduated university he started looking for a job. Five months into the job search he had no bites; he’d been doing a temporary contract but hated it and wanted a real job. He was truly frustrated and angry and only had a month until he had to pay back his student loan.
I remember we were driving in the car and he was venting and complaining and I, calmly (I’m sure I was calm about it), asked if he’d tried, maybe, just asking for a job. Didn’t it make sense to ask God for the job?
He was so frustrated he looked right up at the top of the car and yelled something along the lines of, “Can I have a d@*& job already.” (I’m paraphrasing, it has been twelve years since then ya know.)
It was quite amusing that within the week he had a response to a resume he’d put out a while ago, went in for the interview and was offered the job. (He worked that job until it led to a better one and he’s been at the better one ever since…) I’m not sure which one of us was more surprised at the speedy response.
And the lesson in this is:
How to Change Your Life Lesson #3: ASK!
Unless you’ve said it out loud, written it down, or phrased it as a specific question then it’s safe to say that you haven’t actually asked for it yet. You can’t get what you don’t ask for so go ahead, stick your head out there, and let the Universe (God, Spirit, or the World at Large) know that you want that thing (gosh darn it)!
Asking is always the first step to getting - no matter what it is you’re looking to get (material or immaterial). Remember to be specific, and positive (i.e. ask for peace, not for the end of war), and most importantly expect to get an answer.
(This is why the Wish List is such a great activity, that’s just one of the many ways we go about asking for things we want!)
If you decide to take part in my How to Change Your Life series, or if you are declaring today to be your new beginning I’d LOVE to hear from you. Post a comment or shoot me an email (muse @ flamingrenaissance dot com) and I’ll be sure to join your personal cheerleading squad! If you are up to sharing you goals, and hopes and dreams feel free to put them in your comments - or better yet - blog about them yourself, be sure to include a link for us!
Read: Lesson #1 & Lesson #2
Posted by Megan @
2:01 pm |
-image-Cliff Diving
We had a small incident at the store last week. Wakizashi’s been making quite a few sales through his work since the store opened. People looking for stainless steel water bottles (and a few other odds and ends) know he’s the man to get them from. At least once a week I get a call at the store asking me to bring home this or that so he can deliver it the next day.
Then a few weeks ago he got a major order. It turns out that his company sponsors a Dragon Boat team and the ladies in charge of the sponsorship wanted to buy a stainless steel bottle for each member of the team. It was an order for fifty stainless steel bottles. That’s a lot for a brand new boutique like us!
I called my supplier to make sure they had the order in stock (I can’t tell you how hard it is to get your hands on a stainless steel water bottle - the suppliers are selling out like crazy and stores just can’t keep them stocked). It turns out that they did! So I placed the order.
A week later when my order arrived, it appeared a little small. Five boxes too small. My fifty water bottles weren’t in it.
I called my supplier to find out what happened. The bottles were out of stock.
“But,” I objected, “they were in stock when I ordered them. I called to confirm that before I said I could fill the order.”
Well, it seems that my supplier doesn’t hold product until the order is ready to be shipped. So, while they were in stock when I ordered, they’d been shipped out with another order that got their delivery before we did. There was nothing left in stock, there was nothing they could do.
To say I was upset would be an understatement.
The store’s been holding it’s own, but the last few weeks have been slower than I anticipated they would be and I had been counting on that order to boost our sales (and my confidence).
Under Wakizashi’s direction I started hunting down alternatives. (I did mention earlier that all the suppliers for stainless steel bottles are having a shortage, didn’t I?) With some persistence (read: by being very annoying) I finally found someone who could get us fifty bottles, and just barely in time too! I got my hands on a sample and sent it into work with Wakizashi to get their approval.
They hated it.
Instead they wanted to know if we could get the big 40oz bottles - the ones we get from the same supplier that messed up the first order. The guys who were sold out.
I knew that my supplier had actually been out of 40oz bottles for a few weeks and had just gotten their refill order in that week, which meant there actually was a chance that they’d have some in stock. But fifty of them?
I called, they had them. (Insert happy dance here!) I ordered them and made sure to request they be put on hold for us immediately.
Two days later Wakizashi drove to the supplier’s warehouse and picked up the bottles. He delivered them to the ladies at work that day.
The moral of this story is to keep an eye on, better yet, release your expectations.
You see, the original order that fell through was for 33oz bottles - smaller bottles mean a smaller price. Turns out we actually made more money (and proved we were willing to go to the wire to fulfill our commitments) because the initial order fell through.
You can make a list of wishes, dreams, goals or intentions - and you can be as lavish as you like with them. I assure you: God wants to help you see them come to pass. Just…
Maybe not in the same way you thought they would. Maybe not in the same order, or maybe not without a few bumps and bruises along the way.
Actually, come to think of it, I’d have to say that most of my bumps and bruises have been a direct result of my holding more tightly to my expectations (of the how, and when, and where) than to my dreams themselves. When I truly trust God to follow through, then I don’t need any expectations (because expectations are nothing more than us trying to plan and control our own futures - and control is never a result of trust) - I’m just set free to enjoy my life as it unfolds in front of me.
Which is not to imply that this is easy. If you ask me, releasing your expectations after taking the risk of writing the list of dreams down in the first place is kind of like hiking all day to get to the top of a cliff and then… throwing yourself over the edge.
Which reminds me of a Curly Girl card we sell at the store. It says:
“Faith is believing that one of two things will happen,” she said. “That there will be something solid for you to stand on. Or that you will be taught to fly.”
Go ahead, Jump!
And while we are here, here’s Megan’s Wishes on Day Four:
1. I wish I was actively changing women’s lives.
2. I wish I blogged regularly.
3. I wish I had more painting opportunities.
4. I wish my psychic gift was growing and active.
5. I wish the Kung Fu Master had a new friend.
6. I wish I had a healthy, whole and happy body.
7. I wish the store was making $2500 a week.
Tomorrow, there’s only five wishes left!
Posted by Megan @
10:23 pm |
-image-It Has Begun
Have you ever sat down and tried to figure out where you particular journey really began? I have; every time I think I have it pinpointed I remember a time a few months before that moment when…
Personally, I’ve come to the conclusion that life is one great long dance; that God is wooing us deeper and deeper into life and as long as we are willing to be challenged and to face our presumptions about the world (and God himself) then there will always be a deeper place that we can be drawn into. The journey and the wooing will just keep happening. After all, we live in a world of “more than we can ask or imagine” so how could we possibly run out of amazing and mind blowing things to discover?
Of course, there are some significant events - moments - that were definite beginnings in our lives. For me, many of them revolve around reading books (my primary source of mind stretching and belief challenging information). I can trace so many significant revelations or moments of waking up to a hidden truth to specific books I was reading (it doesn’t mean the books are life changing in and of themselves - but more that they served as a “time and place” nudge). Reading Writing Down the Bones, Jesus, Life Coach, The Artist’s Way, Our Father Abraham, and A New Earth (among many others) have all brought about great moment of introspection and revelation that I remember as New Beginnings in my life.
The problem, I think, with beginnings is that they too often happen by accident. We fail to mark them, to declare them, and so it’s often not untill we are well down our current path that we even become aware that there even was a beginning. So, we are always trying to work our way backwards and figure out where it all began.
What we really need to do is make a declaration; we need to decide that Today, right now is going to be the beginning. “Today is the beginning of the rest of you life” and all that jazz. Sometimes we have these great electrical moments happen to us (like Cynthia commented about on my last post) and sometimes we need to create those moments in our lives.
I figure we might as well create one of those moments right now. It’s simple enough, just make a declaration, an agreement with yourself (and with me, if you like) that: One year from today my life will be measurably different.
If you like, you can journal about this decision, you can make a piece of art about it or create a ritual that helps you to draw a line in the sand. But really, all that’s necessary is that you intend for it to be true - and then it will be.
It may not be dramatic. It may creep up on you unawares. But without fail, I can promise you, that the life you are living one year from now will not be the same as the one you are living today. As long as change is what you want, then change is what you’ll get.
Lesson #1 in How to Change Your Life: Sometimes we need to be intentional about our Personal Renaissances. Go ahead, choose to do something different and declare your new life to have begun. Now you are actively pursuing growth and Life instead of just aimlessly wandering through it all!
If you decide to take part in my How to Change Your Life series, or if you are declaring today to be your new beginning I’d LOVE to hear from you. Post a comment or shoot me an email (muse @ flamingrenaissance dot com) and I’ll be sure to join your personal cheerleading squad!
Posted by Megan @
5:19 pm |
-image-The True Secret of Success
Did I tell you that I was doing a correspondence/online course? It’s through the University of Metaphysical Sciences which has some classes that seriously intrigue me (and of which I can’t get enough) and some classes that are truly challenging my world view (which is a really polite way of saying that I’m not sure I agree with them!). But being as I am a person with a insatiable thirst for knowledge I appreciate them either way. I am basically eating my way through the classes (whenever I can find time for them).
I think one of the most fascinating and yet challenging units has been the World Religion classes. Last week I worked my way through the Witchcraft (more an intellectual conversation than a lesson in how to be one) and Shamanism classes and am currently halfway done Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology.
Yesterday, when I was reading through A New Earth he echoed one of my favorite comments that the Shamanism course had shared. It was the very thing I’d been considering blogging about the other day; I figured the repeat was a good reminder to come by and share it with all of you.
The comment had to do with the true secret of success:
Tolle said:
In order to attract success, you need to welcome it wherever you see it.
If you read The Artist’s Way (Julia Cameron) in one of the chapters (seven actually, I just looked it up) talks about Jealousy. She says that jealousy is nothing more than a mask for fear:
… fear that we aren’t able to get what we want; frustration that somebody else seems to be getting what is rightfully ours even if we are too frightened to reach for it… Jealousy tells us that there is room for only one - one poet, one painter, one whatever you dream of being.
Which means jealousy is, of course, a fabulous guide for helping you to realize what it is you should be doing with your life. And who you truly want to be.
But it seems, according to my Shamanism course, that Hawaiians have a relatively simply philosophy designed to help you attain a joyful life. Basically, their prescription is to:
Bless everyone and everything that represents what you want!
According to Aloha International to bless means “to give recognition or emphasis to a positive quality, characteristic or condition, with the intent that what is recognized or emphasized will increase, endure, or come into being.”
Which just means instead of seething with jealousy we should be blessing (recognizing, emphasizing, multiplying, celebrating) the successes of others so that we can see that very same success coming to pass in our own lives.
You see, the inherent problem with jealousy is that it’s rooted in the idea that there just isn’t enough. Enough of what? Well, whatever it is you want. Enough money. Enough customers. Enough recognition. Enough (you fill in the blank)…
But, if there really is enough; if we live in a world of enough (rather than a world of too little) then there’s no real reason to feel jealous and we really can afford to be happy for all the success happening around us. In fact, instead of their successes signaling one less thing we get to accomplish they become a reassurance, a chorus of reminders that success is, indeed, possible. After all, if they can do it, so can you (as cliche as that expression is, it’s true)!
And of course, success comes more readily to those who believe it will arrive than to those who are too busy being angry about what others have to see success when it passes by.
Posted by Megan @
2:34 pm |
-image-The Point of No Return
In January I started to see a Naturopath. I’d noticed over the holidays that I was starting to be really bothered with sudden exhaustion and a few other symptoms; I knew something was getting worse in my system and I knew (from earlier experience) that my doctor wouldn’t be any help.
A Naturopath seemed like the right way to go. Plus, it meant I could choose who treated me (technically in Canada you are free to choose your doctor, but there is such a shortage of them you are normally stuck with whoever can take new patients rather than being able to choose); I could say I wanted to be treated by a woman, and one who specialized in hormone issues (hormones are one of the things that respond really well to naturopathic methods, by the way).
At my first appointment, Lindy confirmed what I already suspected: the annoying symptoms were from Hypoglycemia. She started me on a round of supplements (and acupuncture which is very cool) to treat my PCOS (see how helpful I am with the links this post!), and on a diet to treat the hypoglycemia.
Well, to be honest, because the hormones and the insulin are both issues related to PCOS the supplements truly help with the hypoglycemia and the diet does effect the PCOS, but anyway.
The diet was very simple (to understand, not so simple to follow through on): Don’t eat carbs. (I’m already well aware that controlling my carb intake drastically affects my weight.) Now, don’t get all worked up; it’s not an unhealthy diet. I’m not supposed to eat any refined carbs, I can eat all the vegetables I like, and fruit too (but the amount of fruit in a day is controlled). The plan was (notice my tense) 8 weeks without bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, or sugar; then slowly begin to reintroduce the foods in small rates. The goal is of course to let my body reboot how it deals with sugar and hopefully reset my insulin system.
Well, things went well till about week 7. Lindy had assured me that one “cheat day” a week was perfectly acceptable, but in week seven one cheat day turned into two, turned into three… until within a ten day span I’d had five cheat days and finally just gave up. (The problem being, that eating carb free is something that requires time and planning - it’s anything but convenience food. So the busier I got the harder it became to stick to it.)
I also ran out of a key supplement right about that time and found watching the return of my symptoms so discouraging that I started to let other things slip. I was also so busy with the store that I kept having to cancel my appointments, so that it was a month before I was back in my naturopath’s office and by then I was almost all the way back to square one (not totally though, the food reboot had worked and I wasn’t having hypoglycemia symptoms anymore).
When I was there Lindy talked to me about “The Point of No Return”, she said if I didn’t go back to the diet plan I would eventually undo the changes the diet had created in my system and be pushed totally back to the way I was. I can understand that concept. I’ve experienced the exact same thing in my own personal growth, and in coaching others.
It’s hard to make changes. The reason so many people believe that change is impossible - that people don’t change - is because it’s so easy to slip back into old patterns, so easy to hit that Point of No Return where everything you’ve done unravels and you give in completely to the old way you were.
It’s easy to interpret that to mean that people simple can’t change. Really, I think we just need to be more aware that there is a Point of No Return. Change is difficult; you can’t undo ingrained habits over night, therefore change is not only difficult, it takes time.
And yes, we are going to find ourselves slipping back into what seems easiest, what seems comfortable, or what we do automatically without thought. The question is, can we pull ourselves back out of that rut before we hit the edge of the cliff and find ourselves back in the hole we started from?
Of course, you can still come back from that point (despite it being the Point of “No Return”), it simply means that we need to start the climb all over from the very beginning once more. Which, to say the least, is very discouraging for most of us, and often leads to our downfall when we get caught up in the guilt and discouragement that go along with the slide to the bottom.
Even though not every slip means we need to start back at the very beginning again, most of us don’t realize that. We don’t know that it’s only allowing ourselves to think that, or to slide beyond the Point of No Return, that forces us to do it all over again. We’d do so much better if we knew that most of the time we can just dust off and move on from our last right action.
I think if we all knew that this point existed, if we all knew that everyone slips back - that, in fact, change is impossible without a few slips and slides - then we wouldn’t allow guilt to take such a foothold in us. (Often, I find that guilt is the thing that pushes us beyond No Return because it makes us too afraid to try to go forward again until we simply give up - which is a terrible thing to ever do.) If we knew this kind of thing was bound to happen, and is actually a part of the process of change, well then, we’d just shrug our shoulders and go on with our trek upwards and outwards.
There is, in fact, an equal and opposing point on the other side of the climb. It’s called the Tipping Point which we reach when all the forward motion momentum we’ve built up (even the momentum of getting back up from a backwards slip) finally builds to a point where change becomes inevitable and we finally fall beyond our old ways of acting and thinking and are dropped into the whole new world we were aiming for.
So, I’m back on my supplements. Back on my diet. Back to the naturopath’s (I have an appointment in an hour actually), and swiftly stepping away from the Point of No Return. I know which Point I want to hit next, and it’s not the one that lies behind me.
Tipping Point, here I come!
Posted by Megan @
10:50 am |
