Finding the strength to make it through.

If you don't already know- I am an assistant manager for a college bookstore. My specialty is textbooks. That means that this is the time of year when all my work for the last few months comes to fruition. We will have our busiest two days of the year today and Monday with yesterday and the rest of the next week right behind them.

It also means that I am coming off 11 hour days all week and facing 12-14 hour days the coming week. I have had an issue this week with letting the fact that other people are frantic affect my own stress level and attitude. Yesterday- someone ( @Andrew_Johnson ) posted the following tweet on Twitter: "STOP: With every thought, positive or negative, you are creating your reality. You are creating in every moment. Change your thoughts." It was just what I needed at that moment. I was sitting in my car, taking a quick break when that came through. I read it and POW. I was instantly reminded that though I have worked so hard to get to this point, it really is not a crisis. If we run out of books, it's not a crisis. If we have to reorder- not a crisis. I have to stop and remember that nothing that happens in the next two weeks is a life threatening emergency. No one is going to die if they have to wait. Realizing that- it was as if the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders and I came back in with a renewed energy and a renewed sense of calm and peace.

I am so thankful for the timing on that message. It gave me perspective and allowed me to change my thinking. My to do list suddenly didn't seem so overwhelming. The fact that we are swamped- was not a *thing* any longer. I was reminded that I can only do one thing at one time and that is OKAY. I needed that and will try to keep it in my mind as I go through the coming weeks.

Companies doing good things

There are a couple of companies that are doing things that I really like and I wanted to share them this morning.

First there is Pedigree. Pedigree dog food sponsers shelter adoptions nationwide. Not only that, but their site has questions you should ask yourself to see if you are really ready to be a responsible dog owner. That is very important to me. It is wonderful to have a pet in your life- but if you don't properly care for them- you aren't doing yourself or the dog any favors. I like that Pedigree addresses that part of pet adoptions as well as just encouraging us to adopt.

The second and my other favorite is Dove's Campaign For Real Beauty. Dove was one of the first line of beauty products to spotlight that women who are not "traditionally" beautiful can be beautiful too. Their commercials with larger women were groundbreaking and as it evolved the campaign included older women as well. Dove has created self-esteem workshops for girls ages 8-17, when they are most vulnerable to peer pressure. They work with the Girls Scouts of America as well as mentor programs and schools to get these workshops out there.

These are two companies that I can be glad to give my hard earned money to when I choose my products. I like what they are doing to give back to the world and their philosophy in presenting their programs. For that reason- I can support them both financially and by word of mouth.