I was at work last night and for some reason, I was overly tired. I work at a restaurant in the SOHO area in Tampa, FL. and it can get very busy. Even though we were nowhere close to being as busy as we were the night prior, I felt like I was trudging through mud. At first, I thought it was because of lack of sleep but I slept really good the night prior. All day long I was energized and willing and ready to work. Within an hour of me clocking in, my energy was being sucked out of me and it was being sucked out of me fast. After what felt like 3 hours of being completely drained, I walked to Zack, a good friend and a co-worker of mine and asked if he felt the same way. What he said next blew my mind in so many ways.
He agreed with me and said that he felt exactly the same. He said that I was feeling this way because of the lack of inventory. Although he may have meant it in a simple and literal way, it opened my eyes to an entire perspective change. A lightbulb clicked. We were going through a shortage of supplies at work and with customers continuously coming in, all of the staff was running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
“You are right!!!” I said. “Even though we aren’t busy, I have been sprinting here and there looking for supplies that we don’t even have. Running back and forth trying to stock the stations with silverware that was non-existent. Walking to the back storage area, to the outside patio, to the cocktail server stand, to the inside dining area and back to the storage area only to find nothing that I was looking for.” I thanked him and continued to work but what he said lingered in my head like a broken record. I was literally draining myself because I was looking for things that we didn’t even have and what hit me the hardest is that I knew we didn’t have it. We were having a shortage for over 2 months now.
Once I was aware of why I was being drained, I slowed down and my energy started filling my tank. I started putting my effort into things that I could work on instead and my night got a lot better. Although everybody else was running themselves empty, I simply did what I could and disregarded what I couldn’t. Frustration continued to rise with the staff throughout the night and even ended with some of the servers flipping out on other employees because the lack of essentials but because I was aware that there was nothing I could do, there was no more stress on my end.
All though Zack is not a philosopher, what he said changed my entire perspective on life.
How many times throughout your life have you felt utterly drained for no apparent reason. Feeling exhausted even though you had plenty of rest? Moving but not really going anywhere. Maybe its because you are looking for things in your life that just aren’t there and you are sprinting to a non-existent finish line.
Next time you feel drained or frustrated, try this. Slow down. Ask yourself exactly what you are looking for. Are you trying to find happiness? Are you trying to find freedom? Are you trying to find time? It can be a countless amount of thing that you can be looking for and not even realize it. Many of the things you are looking for in your life may not actually be there. Sometimes just simply being aware of your inventory can change your direction. Change your attitude and change the way that you move, allowing you to work on what you can at the current moment until you have the capability to find that finish line.
