Serenity

2010 has passed me by, and I'm not sure I've "done" alot. But I've certainly learned alot. And as a student of life, I suppose that's what matters.

As of January 14th, I will no longer be working at KMart. I have managed to secure 2 adjunct teaching positions in addition to the one I already have, so I will be teaching 5 sections of composition at 3 different colleges/universities. I'm a little excited, mostly terrified, but wanting to take on the challenge. This will be the first time I'm one-hundred percent responsible for what gets taught in my classroom. It's a big responsibility, and although I'm not worried that I won't be up to it, I am worried that I may realize it's not what I want to do with my life.

So that's my new year's resolution this year: Figure out what in the world I want to do with my life, and go after it with gusto.

But looking back on 2010, despite feeling like I spent most of it in limbo, I have grown, and I have grown up. Since 2011 may find me leaving my retail adventure behind completely, I want to reflect on what the last year and half of working at KMart has changed about me, and I want to commit some of the things I've learned to memory so that I take these lessons with me for life.

Never assume something about a person because of where they work. I may work at KMart, but that does not mean that I am uneducated, unmotivated, or lazy. Nor are [most of] my coworkers, all who have varying levels of education and life experience.

If you wouldn't want someone to speak to you a certain way, then don't speak to them that way. One of the most difficult parts about working in retail, for me, was learning to not take things personally. People are going to yell at you, call you names, stomp, stamp, and scream, throw adult tantrums and behave like undisciplined children. And while we don't have to just "stand there and take it" (we can call security or management), we cannot fight back. But would you want someone to come in to your place of work and scream, rant, and rave about something that is, quite honestly, completely outside of your control? Then don't do it at my place of work.

There is a ridiculous amount of stupidity in the world. And they're breeding.

When you are forced to choose between buying food and paying bills, any paycheck is a good paycheck.

You may be upset because something rung up wrong when you're checking out and it's taking a while for the cashier to do a price check. Or perhaps your layaway got canceled because you missed a payment. Or maybe you didn't bring ID and you can't pick up your layaway. Maybe the item you want is out of stock and we don't know when it will be replenished. Your day has just been inconvenienced. But that's all it is: an inconvenience. Would you still yell at that associate if you knew her grandfather has just died? Or her mom was sick?

I will never, ever again underestimate the value of kindness from strangers. It happens far, far too rarely.

Christmas is not the most wonderful time of the year. It has degenerated into a consumerist bloodbath where nothing is more important that spending as much money as possible on things that will break, be forgotten, or returned because they're unwanted.

No matter how many times you straighten something, it will always be undone within hours. But you will come back the next day and do it all over again.

The most fun I have at work has nothing to do with what I'm doing, but who I'm doing it with.

To find peace in wherever I am and whatever I am doing, I simply have to remember: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.