gomommyblogger: Find Your Calling At Your Job, day 39: 100 Days to Brave (Advent, Day 1)

I love that Annie worked at Local Taco, some local taco joint, obviously. I love this because I can envision her there, taking orders, eating tacos, and being that presence. You know the one. It's the face everyone gravitates to. It's the Holy Spirit in her.

What makes this extra fascinating to me is that I worked at roughly 100 restaurants, so it is fun to imagine what it would have been like to have had worked alongside her and known her way back when.

Can you look around the life you have and find ways that your calling is already there, even if your job doesn't look the way you thought it would look?

There is a theory I have developed in my mind but will sell to the government if they'll accept it. My theory is so obvious that it should be the norm. It is as follows:

INSTEAD of studying algebra and trigonometry...
high school students should be working for a real life paycheck, one that they legitimately earn, but never see...until graduation.
INSTEAD of biology...
high school students should learn how to take care of themselves: what is good for our skin types, what is healthy for our intake and environments.
INSTEAD of sitting in class and reading statistics and whatever...
high school students should be taking care of babies and elderly citizens.
...working in restaurants and learning to cook, serve, and deal with unpleasant people.
...changing diapers, viewing live births, and getting up throughout the night for an inconsolable child.
...plunging toilets, sorting laundry, and putting shelves up evenly, sturdily, and efficiently.
...sitting down with marriage counselors long before marriage is an option.
...how to not live off the government, credit cards, or one's parents.
...the importance of voting, savings accounts, and options besides college.

There is nothing inherently wrong with trigonometry, biology, statistics and any other subject, it's just that I am not convinced that they are the best subjects for a high school -almost an adult!- setting.
Although some of us will legitimately utilize these subjects in great detail in our futures, many of us (most?) will not. But this time is so crucial.

Yesterday I wrote about my belief that nothing is wasted. Not even high school. Not even statistics which are constantly changing. All that work I did in restaurants was training ground for me. Acts in serving others and acts in taking one on the chin (as was the case when the drunk table I waited on during college left me a few dollar bills- each so ~~kindly~~ rolled tight in straws and at the bottom of glasses of water). Acts of speaking with others, patience (have you ever had to make an espresso drink again and again because it didn't taste quite right?), and presenting myself well. In a such a way that I was an attractive waitress and not dirty, ill-kept, or smelly- ever been served by a cigarette-puffing waiter? EWW

You can be fully you wherever you are. And it's your choice.

Be Brave:

Can you list a few reasons that the job you have today

is the exact right one for this season?

At this season I am no longer a waitress nor am I a barista. But I work with food, everyday. And people, every day. Daily I work on my patience, service, and how I speak to others.

A list of reasons today is exactly right for me, I have four:
*Big Strong Man

*Zeplin

*Demetri

*Thatcher

They are the gist of most my life stories. Everything in my life has led me to them. And they make for some great story-telling!