I am currenlty travelling to memphis for time away from work and work related stresses. This time I am planning on going somewhere I have gone before and I have actually left town this time, so we are already a step above some of the less than successful attempts at a vacation away than I have had in recent memory. I am not going into this with the intent of exploring uncharted territories but rather a deeper examination and reflection into places I've already been.

Which ties nicely into the influence behind this message. The person driving me had spoken up and mentioned that it was getting time to fill up with gas again, I looked over and saw how much was left on the guage and stated that we could make it to such and such area. He agreed and even described an intersection where there was a gas station next to a Burger King.

It wasn't until we got to this intersection that I was like *blink blink* "Dude! This isn't a 4 way stop anymore! They've got lights now!"

He kinda snickered at me, it kinda showed how long its been since I've travelled this route, but then I've been travelling back and forth along this route between Huntsville and Memphis for almost 15 years now and there are some of the vagaries of the trip that you just sort of get used to and expect. I remember thinking many many years ago that this intersection really neded to have a light instead but I had pretty much just given up on that brief bit of mental stress and had just gotten comfortable with the fact that there would always be a lot of stop and go at this particular intersection.

But interesting as that is to put into context, the moment I really wanted to type about was when we went to the Burger King. Amusing (at least to me *grin*) items to mention, my driver for today is a vegetarian and I spent a year working for Burger King 15 years ago *evilgrin*.

So here we are my mind tripping back into the past for several reasons, the interior layout of the burger king is almost exactly that of the one I had worked at so long ago. I'm thinking about some of the basic details of this kind of job.

For all the things I learned by working at BK I am amused by the fact that one of the primary reasons I walked into that BK so long ago and asked for a job was because I needed to be working and I didn't want to work at McDonald's because I enjoyed the food there and I didn't ever want to go to a McD's and have to deal with that mental dichotomy and to not be able to enjoy the food.

I was at another one of those times that I realized that it would be better for me to be working than not working. Because when I'm not working its too easy for me to dwell on thoughts I would be healthier not dwelling on. I had wrapped myself into a knot with school at the time and I knew that I wasn't going to be able to unravel it in a constructive way. I also knew that my mother would not deal well with me dropping out of school and doing nothing whatsoever.

Any job that I thougyht I would actually enjoy of course wouldn't hire me either because of lack of experience or education (or even as I learned much later in life, knowing the right people).

I was waiting on my vehicle to have its alignment done at a Firestone near my mother's house and letting all of my drama and trauma and indecisions tumble about in my mind when I looked across the 6 lanes of traffic and my eyes alighted upon the Burger King on the corner.

A cusp formed. Energy moved. I honestly don't remember at this moment if I walked across the street then or at least waited until my vehicle was ready and drove. But I'm fairly certain that I didn't wait on my vehicle.

I had decided somewhere that if I was going to start working now that I was going to start with the very worst job that I could ever have so that everything else in my life would be uphill from there (so to speak *grin*)

I walked in and asked for a job application, ended up being interviewed by the manager right away (with me being nervous about lacking any kind of experience... I really had not had any real job before this moment even though I had always ben interested in having one, but my mother was always wanting me to concentrate on my studies rather than working)

So there I was all set to start work in the next couple days, with a provided uniform and everything. Anxious to learn and to work to be doing something rahter than spending even more time in my head which was part of the problem I was having with taking college classes at the time, I was already way too much in my own head that it was causing a feedback loop that I was very aware of the dangers and traps that could be created thereby.

There are a large number of blessings that I can attribute to my time And also lessons I learned by observing the management staff in the things that they did both positive and negative (for an example of the negative ask me or remind me to write about how the Burger King evaluated performance and assigned raises *grin* I'm tempted to say that I need to be drinking before I talk about that one but then that will remind me of the day that I received a compliment from the day manager about my wonderful cheery attitude *evilgrin* and how that made me realize some of the fundamental keys to good customer service)

I touched many lives in a most unmemorable way while I was there... or at least in a context that most of the people that I served would be hard pressed to remember who I was or even care later in their lives but mY attitude and general demeanor and overall service would have a dramatic effect on shaping their experience. If I made their day just subtley better or worse then that energy and experience would carry over into the rest of their lives and those people that they interacted with. I was truly the architect of improving the world through how I touched these lives even though I would not be remembered for it.

Which is why I at the same time have an amazing amount of patience with fast food workers (and other similar service types) because I am very aware of how there are times that things just go wrong, the alignment doesn't happen and choas keeps things from working smoothly. But at the same time I have absolutely no patience for those workers that treat their customers like they are an imposition (or at least me *wry grin*) especially since even though they don't know it I do understand their "suffering" but I also understand that if they are suffering then its only the experience that they are creating and they are the source of their own feedback cycle.

It takes so little effort to improve someone elses day and you will find yours improving also once you understand that.

I may not always live my Truth to its fullest possibilities and I may seem to failing to live to my own standards but even then I know and am aware of my process and and sometimes temporarily forget hte lessons I have already taught myself. But I do have Faith in myself, I have moved through and past many types of pain that could eassily have destroyed me. I may not be unaffected but I am "feeling much better now!" *evilgrin*

Oh by the way since I need to wrap this up a bit I just wanted to mention that once we had gotten back into the truck after leaving the BK I happened to notice a van that obviously had been driven by the maintenace guy who was painting the doors hiding the trash receptacles had the name of the same Franchise that had printed a years worth of paychecks for me so long ago. Minor and almost shrugworthy to some but very Zen to me.

Strive for Excellence in your life.