Running

I have been running lately, not the lace up your shoes, put your sports bra and spandex on kind of running but the running of a store kind.  It’s a new challenge for me, one I hope will stick.  It’s almost been a month and I am finally starting to feel more comfortable in my role.  The first few weeks were tough, as my partner can readily attest, I’d invariably end my days in tears saying to myself: “I can’t do this.”  My drives home in the car would be filled with conversations with my itty bitty shitty committee and finally a renewed resolve would appear in some way or another.

What I learnt was I needed to go back to basics and take care of myself.  It’s normal to feel overwhelmed, any new job is, especially when you are responsable for staff, budgets, sales.  It’s a lot.  Eight hours on a sales floor is a lot, coupled with all the details of management it’s big.  I am pleased to say my days are filled with more laughs and funny stories.  I have fun on the floor with my customers.  I have characters for business neighbors.  Oh the stories!  I now regale my partner with the challenging moments but also the good ones.  I pat myself on the back for a job well done.  I enjoy being constantly on the move all day.  There are moments when I forget to go to the bathroom and realize a while later I still haven’t been and then there are quiet days like yesterday where traffic is slow but I get to organize and remerchandise.  Believe it or not, it calms and quiets my mind.

I have a fantastic boss, an incredible support network of other store managers and staff that keep me on my toes.  Yes there have been all sorts of mistakes, I truly believe gremlins inhabit my store and mess with anything electronic, if something has to go wrong it will but invariably the successes seem to outweigh the negatives.  The most rewarding of which is making customers happy which in turn, makes my role seem worthwhile.