Days 19/20/21: Get Rid of Stuff You Don't Need, Remove Negative People From Your Life, Stop Complaining for 24 Hours

Why are these particular daily challenges bunched together? Because for me, they are a part-and-parcel effort I have been working on for quite some time, in different concentrations. It all started with right around the time I was feeling it was time to leave my previous job, before they graciously let me go with a small (small!) severance package. July 16th was my third "anniversary". It was a kind of release and expulsion at once, not unlike the baby bird that is half flung out of the nest and must actually use its wings to take off for the first time, or find itself acquainted with gravity. Well, leaving that job helped me to sever many negative people from my life in one fell swoop. And it seems that I am rounding out to that point again. But, if I believe that most of the negative people I find myself being around on a daily basis for many hours a day are at my job, how often will I be able to employ this distancing technique? I can fully accept the inevitability/eventuality of having to deal with unpleasant people or situations, but sometimes I have found myself waffling at exactly how to deal with it in the most positive and self-sustaining way. These three days' challenges seem to be saying, you will need a thicker skin, a coat of armor here, lady. Get out the bow and arrow, and wrist guard, while you're at it. Dig deep, flex a little bit, look down to get your bearings, but then keep your forehead high!

June 30th was my Day 19 in a way, with the backyard sale, and its minimal success ws a downer for a bit, but it did indeed make me more determined to proceed with the challenge to a determined level of success. I will have another sale. And maybe another, And then there's Freecycling and even barrels to be sent to Guyana. But if I can make serious headway with reducing the amount of stuff that hangs on my like barnacles, then I know I will be that much lighter to shrug my shoulders at adversity.

It's a bit harder for me to commit to 24 hours of not complaining. I have triggers, and idiocy at my job is definitely one of them. There are too many things that I cannot control (or express autonomous task completion) and my Capricornity rises up. I yearn for order, for justness, for clarity. For a paycheck that reflects my efforts to imbue all of these things into my overload of job functions.

But I will keep trying this week to muster 24 hours over the five days...

One of the tricks I have allowed myself to attain that goal is to find the flip happy side of whatever it is I am grateful for not having to deal with. The silver lining, if you will.

For instance, I am grateful for the chance to have access to resources to pursue a better job/career while still having at least a little financial agency to plan and save. So many people don't even have that right now, and have not had for as long as I have been at this job.
I am grateful for a coworker that I can commiserate with, that thinks nothing of dropping me home from work four days in a row because she knows I am still recovering and it's hot outside.

Baby steps...