Like I’m starting a new school and in typical Type A/nutty fashion, I have my work bag packed and my outfit ready for tomorrow. How cute is that birdie bag with a new pair of Keens? I am slowly transforming into an REI happy hippie girl.
Tomorrow I walk to work, like I did in high school when I occasionally got grounded from the Hornet and had to hoof it to the tortilla factory. I walked to work at The Lumberjack and certainly did plenty of walking in the five months I managed to tough out farming in Cameroon. I can’t adequately express how happy I am that I hung up my concrete jungle driving gloves today. Driving on the highway in the city ranks right up there on my fun-meter with getting a cavity filled or changing a tire. Not to mention, I just read the average American driver spends $9,000 on car maintenance, gas and payments a year. Sweet mama, that is a lot of cash. Of course tonight on my way home, there was a big decision-affirming crash within a mile of my house and I sat on the freeway in 111 degree heat. Phew. So glad tomorrow I’ll be walking through that sauna and not sitting in it.
That said, I am having a bit of panic with this change, even though it was a long time coming. It hit me this afternoon — five years I’ve worked for the same trusty employer and tomorrow I start all over with day one. I’m currently practicing deep breathing and hoping to muddle through the exhausting nonsense that is a panic attack.
The internal dialog goes something like this:
Stomach: Gurgle
Heart: 118 beats a minute sitting down
Brow: Sweaty
Mind: What the heck is going on? I am freaking out. Why am I freaking out? Stop freaking out!
Lungs: Hyperventilating
Mind: Okay, get a grip here. Don’t listen to your heart pounding. Focus on your happy place. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe!
Heart: BOOM BOOM BOOM
Mind: This was the right choice! New adventure! New fun! You can do this! STOP FREAKING OUT.
Stomach: ROAR!
So, I did one of the most relaxing things I could think of — I got a pedicure and then went shopping at my financial arch nemisis.
New shoes for the new walk, and they were on clearance — plus I had a trusty dividend to burn. Got to love a great deal on something you’d already had your eye on.
New shoes on feet, heart calming, breathing easier. Tomorrow will be groovy. If nothing else, my feet will be rockin’. I could buy a lot of shoes with $9,000…
~K