There are various types of clutter in our lives. I have seen television shows of people who hoard material possessions to the point there is not room for themselves in their own house. Three years ago, I decided I needed to organize and declutter my home. I watched the Netflix series “Tiding Up”. Interesting concepts of creating a home with joy, peace and harmony. I started the process of going through my home and only keeping those things that brought me and my husband joy. Our moods changed. We were happy to be home. We enjoyed the organization and ability to find what we were needing at the time we needed it. Since “Tiding Up” our home, I work at keeping our home decluttered in order to maintain joy and harmony.
This past month, I realized there is another way our lives get cluttered – mental and emotional clutter. I do not care for drama and unnecessary stress in my life. Yet, recently there has been a lot of unnecessary stress. The source of this unnecessary stress is my job away from the farm. I enjoy working in the meat market at the local grocery store. It is not a big store, but I get a few days a week working in the meat department. I started training to become a meat cutter, but the training is slow due to the store being small. So, to be able to work more hours, I was scheduled to work the days when the delivery truck arrived placing product on the shelves.
Then in the middle of December I got what I thought was a big opportunity, to work in place of the meat cutter/department manager in a nearby town. There is only one person working in the meat market in this even smaller store. The day was frustrating for me. Upon arrival, I was not greeted warmly as they did not know the regular person was not going to show up for work and there would be a replacement. Second, when I am being paid I need to be productive. There was no chicken product for me to tray and place on the shelf. I did some meat cutting of small steaks waiting for their delivery truck to arrive. Once it arrived, I checked in the order then put the product in the proper storage areas. Next I was to get the rest of the required meat products on the shelf for customers, only some of the product I needed did not arrive on the truck. The product was not ordered. Third, the person I was substituting for was my store manager’s sister.
After this day of working at another store, my store manager started making requests for a list of what I cut and prepared to go on the shelf each day I worked in the meat department. I thought this was information for my graduation to full fledge meat cutter. I learned it was only for her benefit. I was told to only work the hours I was scheduled. If I went over in the meat department, the hours worked for the store would have to be shorter. I was placed in training with the receiving scan clerk to be a substitute if this person was unable to come to work. Ok, I will learn a new area in the store as I had previous experience of this type from other jobs.
But my joy of working is the meat department. I do not know why I really enjoy the meat department with the cold humid atmosphere, but I do . I spent decades looking at numbers on a computer screen in a small office. The office for the receiving clerk is a closet – literally was a closet transformed into an office barely enough room for one person. I like working with the meat, creating a product the consumer wants to buy for dinner. There is a challenge to making such creations. People like to buy product they can see as appetizing.
These actions were creating a mental clutter mess in my mind causing interference with the projects and work I needed to be doing on the sheep farm. So, I started looking for another job. Someplace else to work without the unnecessary mental clutter.
Tuesday, I was to be working the final week of training with the receiving clerk when I received a text message from the store manager stating I was to help with the truck delivery and to breakdown the load. What does it mean to breakdown a load? The delivery of grocery items comes in cases or lots of some many of that item in a box. The boxes are placed on 4 foot X 4 foot pallets and stacked 5 to 6 feet tall. When the pallets are unloaded from the truck, a person starts placing the boxes on carts, a cart per aisle, so others can put the product on the shelf where it belongs. While the boxes are over fifty pounds, most are five to twenty pounds, there are many of them. Not too bad of a task for a young person, but I am sixty years old, no spring chicken. At the end of breaking down the delivery my muscles felt like I had done first day of basic training for the military. My muscles were angry. I decided I had enough of the work at this store, yet I still wanted to be a meat cutter.
So, on a whim, not really believing anything would happen, I called the district supervisor of the meat markets. I asked if I could transfer to another store. He said he was working in me getting more training in a different store. I informed him I was going to quit. He wanted to know why, and I told him about having to account for time in the meat market, the training as a receiver clerk while others were scheduled to work the meat department, and ended with how I broke down the truck that day. He said he would find me a place, and he would talk with the district store supervisor about the transfer.
In twenty-four hours after handing in a resignation letter, the two district supervisors worked out a place for me to work and the transfer. I start with the new team at a different store next week.
I needed to make a change in order to declutter my mind and relieve the stress so I could have joy and harmony in my life once more. Making decisions that allow the decluttering of the mind and emotions are hard. I have to work a job in order to pay all our bills. Yet, I decided for my health and well being there had to be a change. We are responsible for our health and well being.
amtolle
Me, Myself and I 