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Health & Fitness

Knowing Why I'm Waiting

For the past four weeks, I’ve been adjusting to my new job as a waiter in lieu of keeping up with my Monday Meditations and for those who have been missing my posts, I sincerely apologize. Initially, my goal was to write every week. Then I bargained with myself and decided every other week was okay. But after four weeks of solely focusing on my job, I’m remembering where my passion lies. I love to write and to express and to reflect. So while I realize that having a job means making compromises with my time, it certainly doesn’t mean giving up on my dreams. My goal will always be to have an entry every week, but whether I meet that goal or not, I won’t give up on writing.

 

With that said, I’ll tell you about my job as a waiter.

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It’s harder than I thought it would be. It’s certainly much different from working in an office and sitting in a wheelie chair. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like it. It just means that I still come home with sore feet and tired muscles. Though I can notice a difference now. As more and more time passes, I can feel my body adjusting to the rhythm of the restaurant.

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Before I started working as a waiter, a lot of people warned me that it might be hard to deal with so many different types of people. Working somewhere that is open to the general public will certainly draw a more varied crowd than an office, and serving food will definitely require more interaction than working with a computer and phone. Plus, when dealing with food, you’re dealing with hungry people. I know the Snickers commercial jokes about it, but it’s a real thing that you might turn into a different person if you get hungry enough. Not literally, but it’s real in an emotional way. Hunger can put us in that fight-or-flight primal roots mode that our brain still activates every so often – even though you’re not actually in a life or death situation. 

 

So yes, in the past several weeks, I have seen a wide range of emotions portrayed through a myriad of different styles. But it’s nothing to take personally. Nothing to go home upset about. Believe it or not, despite what people warned me about, the vast majority of experiences are positive. I enjoy meeting all these new and different people, even if only for a little bit. And it’s cool getting to know regulars. Some people come frequently enough that it’s easy to recognize them and keep a thread of conversation going when they come in. I love that because I think it’s a great experience for me as well as the guests.

 

In addition to all of the guests at the restaurant, I’m also connecting with my co-workers. Before I got the job, my cousin told me that one of the best parts of being a waiter is the way working at a restaurant just sort of molds everyone into one big family. Every job is crucial in the restaurant. We all rely and depend on one another. In my office jobs, I couldn’t always see the interrelated parts of the system. I did my job and the people around me did their jobs, but it wasn’t the same. In the restaurant, it’s so immediate. You can see and feel the teamwork and interdependence.

 

No matter what, a new job is going to have challenges. Every job I’ve ever had felt tough at the beginning. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s true about most jobs. But at the end of the day, I feel that I’ve chosen right with this waiter thing. I’m a people person. I love to communicate and interact. To me, it’s not so much what I have, but rather how I spend my time that makes life beautiful and meaningful. To me, it’s the interactions we have every day with strangers, with co-workers, with friends, and with acquaintances that are the priceless and precious treasures of life.

This week, let’s meditate on remembering to create time and space for our passions. Life can be busy. We need to work for bread and butter. But we must remember what fuels us. We must remember to chase what makes us happy. If we must work, then let us find ways to be happy in our work. And if we must work, then let us remember to dedicate a portion of our free time to our passions, hobbies, and dreams. It’s tempting, even seducing, to allow the idea of using all of our free time to relax and watch television to lull us into a numb state where we passively allow our lives to transpire. But at the end of the day, that’s not what we want for ourselves. Each person is born with a passion for something and it is his or her job to express that passion. So no matter what you need to do to provide for yourself, never forget that you were born with a dream and that you are meant to live it.


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