May Just Need to do a Jitter Dance

           I was given feedback from one of my senior operational managers last night that has really let me relax and smile about many things going on right now.   He stated I am more relaxed and smooth compared to this past holiday peak season.  He added it is showing in the high level of effectiveness of my department.  Publicly I thank Piero Barron for that feedback.  At times I would walk out at the end of the shift and thank God "that day is over".  This feedback let me walk out even more relaxed, confident and a short "jitter" dance as I was leaving work.  I lost some anger towards work and  when I return after my weekend, I am confident I will have a good day at work. 

      Life events in my life this week reached a drama peak that it shouldn't have.  After feeling relaxed from work looking at the one of this week's situation, I discovered it  really had nothing to do with me directly.  I needed to let it go and move on.  The other happenings this week involved 3 families within my circles from my hometown area in Missouri all within days of each other.    Sadly it involved the  actions of suicide.  I do not claim to understand or judge of one or their loved ones that take their own life.   I am not close enough of those to understand or need to know what their story is.  I have learned from my closest friend that lost a son to taking his own life the importance of not only judging of the victim but also not judging the  loved ones involved.  I say again, the story is not need to be known.  It still is questioning to myself to ask why.  But how I choose to react to that question is to  say a prayer and move on is the most I know how to do at the moment.  

     In life itself, I'm  wondering if we just take a moment and just need to do a dance.  A few of my crew members at work ask for me to do this little "jitter" dance that watching a 49 year old doing this dance is humorous to them.  It puts a laugh and a smile for others and it does the same for me that I takes a moment to just do a dance no matter how stressful and nutty things are going.  After a few seconds of the "jitter" all issues that were currently on fire began to dim down a bit and could see what needed to be stirred and placed to run smoothly.  

     So if my everyday life drama seems to become overwhelming. My 8 to 10 second "jitter" dance lowers the level of that drama enough to move on, 

2013

Ive spent the last 3-4 years waking up and letting happen whatever was going to happen.  All I attempted to do is pay attention to what is in front of me and did my best to take care of Lance.  From doing that has strengthen a career, added a dollar in my pocket every so often and had a real chance to take care of my health.  I have only committed to small improvements to something everyday.  Today, society would look at me from the outside in and label a complete mess.  What I have decided to do is I have taken ownership to mess and I have built character to take care of it day by day.  Moments that may need my full attention to resolve a past due payment have been taken.  Today, very minimum to nothing at the moment  is past due.  I Only took moments of my life to use the energy to take care of that bill, I took the rest of the day in walking with the sun in my face and tunes playing in my ear.  Work may become stressfull, and I will use all my energy to find out why it is stressful and take small improvements throught the moment, hour, shift, week to do my job and resolve it the best I can.  

Today on New Years Eve 0f 2013, I have had conversations with 9 people in some sort of circles of my life.  Of those 9, 7 were already having a bad day, health was deteriorating, broke, and had a life sucks attitude.  Many issues I am going through are being taken care of small improvements of me waking up every day and pay attention and do everything I can to take care of them.  Whats positive is I am 12 lbs less I was a month ago and 17 lbs less than I was 2 months ago.  I can walk as much as I want.  I have a career with all the opportunities I want to pursue.  Other unspoken issues are soon to be resolved in time.  My issues are not the Presidents fault, they were not the results of some cliff thing, and a hacker has never taken anything from me that I couldn't replace.   

My life is not perfect, not complete but really not that bad.  Myself, that I feel keep current with events in everyday life, still have not found any reason, person or organization to make myself unhealthy, broke, unemployed and in debt.  

 

So what is Lance's New Years 2013 resolutions:  

• Stay Healthy and never be Unhealthy
• Don't spend more than what I have
• Show up at work and do what I'm suppose to do and receive benefits and a pay check
• Pay my bills the best I can do as I have been to stay out of debt

I believe with all I know that Life is and can be REALLY Good!

Gratitude Towards my Workplace

In November of 2009, I had placed myself in a critical low financial situation working part time at an office retail store with no benefits Living in my home state of Missouri.  I was renting a run-down make-shift garage 1 room house from a relative in a very low spiritual and low moral attitude about life. Using the library’s internet,  I found an ad on craigs list for full time Holiday help at a  warehouse and applied thinking I needed something to get bills and child support all caught up.  My son was a senior in high school and I was determined not to attend his graduation that following spring unemployed.  So on Thanksgiving 2009 weekend I started at Amazon.com in Coffeyville Kansas as an SMX associate. .  Within 5 months with SMX, I was converted to a full pledge Amazonian with benefits and everything.   I drove an hour and a half everyday for 6 months till I was able to afford for deposit and first months rent of a nearby apartment to the Amazon FC.  Within another 6 months of being employed with Amazon, I was a fill in PA as a teir 1 for 2 months then hired as a teir 3 seasonal PA.  Also within the first 6 months I was selected to participate in multiple Kaizans to help the departments in the FC improve.  After my first full year plus a couple of months was accepted to apply and was offered a full time teir 3 position to relocate along with a 5 digit bonus offered to relocate cross country to CAE1 Amazon FC in Columbia, South Carolina. Being involved in launching the FC gave me another opportunity for an international opportunity to assist in setting up a fulfillment center in India this summer.  So Bottom Line, in less than 3 years with the company went from almost homeless and discouraged to an elite gated community apartment, assisted financially getting my son through Junior College and opportunities world wide with Amazon.com that I would have never imagined that I would be where I am today as a ICQA PA.   This was accomplished by Hard work and showing up for work non-stop.

Holiday Thoughts

Wow, its exactly 6 days from the official Christmas day and I am still getting use to writing '11 for the date. And what a year to top all that.  The average person would think my situation and feelings would be a "lonely and depressed" holiday.  Being a thousand miles from home in a new area,  work location and change all around physically, mentally and spiritually I have to throw out that belief and so blessed of whats going on for the holidays 2011.  I'am in  a newer apartment that is super.   I woke up in my apartment to a clean vacumed and febreezed rooms that I can sit at my desk to type on the Mac next to a large window with the sun shining through the blinds just like a scene in a magazine.  Work is going good and letting me get through challenges and some growth.  The area is great in having everything a person would need (Lots of Starbucks) and I could go on and on.  The neat thing is since I've been here, I have not had to say "Life Sucks".  Thats a great acomplishment for Lance to go through life and know life is good.  Yes there are challenges and "eye rolls" actions going on at work.  Yes I have had to spend some money on my car again just to get to work.  But today as I write this, my car has new tires and can make it pretty much get in my car and go anywhere and everywhere.   This year I have the ability and blessed to be  online to order all my gifts to family and friends and they are real gifts.  My rent and bills are paid to make life a whole lot easier to cope with.  I have Friday through Sunday off this holiday weekend, and will take time to relax, hopefully the weather will stay nice where a walk or two can be done and  be able to do some neat cooking.  I have never had a Christmas tree in my home in 8 years and have a  tree in my living room that I have really enjoyed.  So its nice that I don't dread the holiday seasons and I get to make it relaxing and still have been able to spread the Holiday cheer with friends and family.  


Happy Holidays and Have a Life is Good 2012!!

Recovery from a 60 HR Week

wow....So as most of my readers know that I work overnights for an Amazon.com
fulfillment center and have recently transferred from southeast Kansas to Columbia, SC.  During the holiday season or as we say at work "Peak" time is an escalated level of shipping out products from our warehouse meaning managing extra workers and long hours.  On top of all this chaos is that here in Columbia, South Carolina is a brand new center getting through the new smell, managers and people.  I am not new to 60 hour weeks and high level stress of logistics and tasks needing accomplished an hour ago.  But on this day, Friday December 3 2011, making it home around 7 am I soon was asleep and stayed asleep till @ 4pm.  Thought I would at least see what the world was up to checking my email,  google news, Huffington Post, Facebook and twitter to make sure I didn't miss anything.  Oh yea lets not forget I did pee, look out the deck to see what the weather was doing, slurped a bowl of corn flakes and yes...went back to bed.  I wake back up at 10pm...this time starving and need to get up, ordered Dominoes watched some cheesy cable shows, a bit of VH1 That Metal Show and now wishing I didn't sleep so much being wide awake at 3 am.  My clothes are on my floor, coffee cups and cereal bowls are still in the sink, my shower towel from Thursday is still on the bathroom floor and shaving cream and the blade I used still on the counter.  Also still spots on the mirror and the shower curtain not closed.  The results is that this is the most relaxed and recovered I have felt in a long time.  Yes, Life is Good :-)

Here's to the Crazy Ones

Here's to the crazy ones.

The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They're not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine.
They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,
are the ones who do.

I owe my open thinking to the innovations of Steve Jobs today.  I am sad like others of his passing but sad and concerned if we are able  as a society to keep raising the bar in innovation and upward thinking towards the way we live today.  I am not a young college student with my life ahead.  As a 48 year old, I still yearn to leave some sort of legacy.  May not be as world like legacy as Jobs did, but one my son and friends  would be proud of and I owe that to leaders like Steve Jobs.