Do it, get through it the best that you can

As the famous Greek Nike said in 50000 B.C., “Just do it.” No, not the one? Well, just do it anyway.

                                     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_(mythology)

I’ve signed up with multiple focus group companies – market research agencies that pay you to test out a new product or ask your opinion on anything from a proposed movie trailer for an upcoming blockbuster (was Godzilla a blockbuster?) or what your feelings are on a new idea for a slushie drink at Taco Bell (Starburst flavored = gross). This is a great way to make an easy buck, providing you pass the pre-screening questionnaire when they first call you up.

Screener: Married or single?

 

Me: Smarried

Screener: Ok...what was that again?

Me: We've been together for like forever and we're having a wedding, so basically, I’m married. Married.

Screener: What’s your yearly combined household income?

Me: Um….this much xxxx, but it used to be this much xxxxxx. Sometimes it’s this much xxxxx.

Screener: When is the last time you participated in a paid market research study?

Me: Hmm…let’s see…. 5, 6, 7, 8 months ago? No, a year ago. Maybe two years ago. (LAST WEEK)

Screener: Are you the person who sets up all of the technology in the house? Smart TV’s, cable, computer, DVD player, wi-fi, etc?

Me: Nnnyes. Why, yes, that's me (Good God, no. We call Nate’s brothers for that shit. And besides, my TV is not smart – it takes 4 remote controls to operate and sometimes there’s no sound)

Screener: Ok, congratulations, we will be able to use you!  You will be paid $150 to participate in this 1 hour study taking place on....

That particular study took over an hour and a half because I’m basically a liar and had quite an unnerving experience trying to set up a smart TV, an Apple TV and Google TV while comparing and contrasting the differences in  all kinds of things I had no understanding of.  

Most of the time I’m in and out of these events within an hour, or even less if it’s at Taco Bell Headquarters - my pocket full of cash and my belly full of Cantina Bowls and weird drinks.

I feel strange things inside my chest when I see this picture. The light, the beauty, the wow!

I do think the gig is up at TB headquarters though. The last time I was there, the facilitator kept giving me a non-covert side-eye. Keeping my face partially hidden behind my hand and mumbling with a fake accent doesn’t seem to work anymore. It probably doesn’t help that I’ve been there 3 times in the last 2 months seeing the same facilitator every single damn time. Yeah, I know you see me, bro, but we don't all look the same.

 

 Anyway, the trick is to just do  it - take the opportunities that are presented to you and go for it. Get through it the best that you can. Did my bowels feel loose staring at the back of a TV and plugging the cables into every which hole except the correct one? Yes, so loose. Did I break into a sweat when the facilitator said there were people behind the glass watching and recording my session?  I was already sweating before I even got into the room. But I got through it. Using trial and an excessive amount of error, along with an embarrassingly time consuming process of elimination , I was able to get through the technology study and earn $150.

Just gotta take those opportunities and jump in.

Sometimes when I’m faced with a big baking job that I know will take the better part of 48 hours straight, I’ll lie in bed and cry. Then before I know it, I’m up and about in the kitchen making and weighing the dough, overworking my oven, and finally assembling the product. Because at some point, it just clicks that staying in bed all day thinking about all the stuff that has to get done is not the same as…well, actually getting things done. Yeah, it’s hard. Yeah, my whole body hurts from standing for almost two days straight. Yeah, I'd rather be on Pinterest looking at wedding stuff. But until I am able to produce 400 cookies from thin air using only the power of my own mind, the fact of the matter is that I gotta get up.

 

Now -  for the sake of sanity and efficiency (one temperamental home oven that's missing a rack is NOT THE WAY), I’ve decided to make the transition to a commercial kitchen. This concept has been on my mind a lot the past few months. While I love having a permit that allows me to work from home, I’m truly limited in how much I can do. I’ve sat on this idea for a while because of cost and the millions of what if’s that continue to take up residence in my scrambled eggs brain. What if I can’t get into a Farmers Market? What if I can’t get into the OC Swap Meet? What if no coffee shop wants to pick up my cookies?

My life is a conglomeration of befores, afters, and what if’s. BUT!!! what if I change my thinking to add “what could be”? Or how about “what will be”? –  what if I dared to think positive and expect good things rather than the worst all the time? How different could my life be…will my life be if I allowed the light of hope to come through? I don’t really know, to be honest.

But…

• I applied to a commercial kitchen and they’ve approved my application.

• I’ve got emails out to different farmers markets. Most are full right now, but I’ll keep throwing myself out there.

AND

• I’ll check out some small local coffee shops and ask if they’re looking for new vendors. What’s the worst that can happen – they’ll say no? Ha – if that were to be the worst thing that could happen in my life at this point, I’d gladly take it.  I’m surviving the worst. Every day. Working through the setbacks.

I’ve got a new song I sing on repeat when I first wake up in the morning: Think positive. Expect good things to come. Be excited. Take a breath before flipping out (and flipping someone the bird). Think positive. Expect good things to come. Be excited. Take a breath. Think positive. Expect good things to come. Be excited. Take a breath.

Just do it and get through it the best that you can.