I know most of you are laughing at that statement, and most of the time, I do too. There are very few (read zero) mornings that my alarm goes off at 3:50am and I sit up with a smile on my face and happy in my heart- and for the record, neither does Janel at that time of morning. Especially on my day off from Starbucks, if I forget to turn off the automatic alarm, the morning is not going to be great. So when I say alarm clocks are your best friend, I am referring to other people's alarm clocks. Explanation forthcoming!
Today was my day "off" from Starbucks, which means I could sleep-in until the late hour of 6:30am before having to get up and get the girls ready for school. Unfortunately, the person responsible for opening my store this morning forgot to set his alarm clock, which means I got the Mario Brothers Theme song (my ring tone) blaring in my ear at 4:45am. A call at that time of morning is never pleasant, I don't think I managed a coherent word during the call, but my body automatically walked to the closet and pulled out a uniform, found a Starbucks hat and walked towards the door to go to work until the other guy finished his beauty rest and made it to work.
As a manager, that's part of my job and I accept that I am on the hook to cover the missteps, but my family isn't. Because of me having to go to work, even though it was just a little over an hour I was gone, Janel missed a workout class, which changed some of her plans the rest of the day.
Here's the life lesson- your actions have ripple effects on those around you, even those you don't come face to face with. These ripples can be good or bad. I hope to live my life in a way that creates good ripples, like the soft lapping of waves on your toes at the beach, not bad ripples of pounding surf during a windstorm. Be conscience of the things you do and how they affect others. While the effects may not be catastrophic in the beginning, eventually even the smallest ripples create cracks and lead to damage.
Until next time!
Just for the record, if you are reading this and are the shift supervisor mentioned above- I am not mad, neither is Janel. This blog is my way of applying real life to my walk with Christ.
