:: WHY WE BE ::

Boo to false, self-imposed limits, we say. These champion oracles want to live enthusiastically. Follow our trip through projects that challenge, frustrate, and/or scare us. In the end (which is really the middle) we want to live like big bright free and authentically awesome people.




Friday, November 26, 2010

tryptophan success (tanya banana)


Well well well, wellwellwellwell…………. I don’t have a ton of superstardom to report so this will be vertically challenged and sweet. In fact, once this post actually goes to delivery live zone, I will probably still be snoozing away still in my jammies, hung-over from the massive amount of the turkey’s tryptophan I’ve inhaled, topped off by hopefully some delicious cabernet and several pieces of fruit pie. So yeah, this is where my brain is currently functioning right-at-this-moment….. HOLLA TO THE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY! High Five Pilgrims! And thanks, Abe, for the time off work. :)

So with that little tiny clarification and weaseling out of any humongo or life changing expectations, here is what I have noticed and what I am proud to report to my ultra coolio hipster COFFEE chickadees:

I have continued to give more wholly (or holy if you're into puns) in the offering at church, with one tiny itsy bitsy slip up. I actually thought I gave my fullest (i.e. what funds I show up with on my person) last Saturday evening, and it was not easy for the record. I hemmed and hawed about how I needed to minimally keep some moolah to pay my nine year old neighbor / dog sitter on Tuesday because I wasn’t sure I could swing the time to stop off anywhere to get some nominal cashola. Well, here’s what actually happened however. So after all of my hemming and hawing, getting the money out, putting some back in my wallet, getting it out again, I gave the wad (ha ha, “wad” is all about interpretation!!), and I made my peace and smiled about it. Well then, Monday night rolls around, I’m doing bills online, reconciling my checkbook (yes I am old school, and I still do this) and totaling up all of my millions of receipts jammed in my wallet, and right there falls out a $20 bill. I don’t know whether this was God’s little gift to me or if it was a bit of a Freudian slip. But, I will do better next time. I promise I will.

So the smiling thing. YES! I have so been doing this. I have smiled my little heart out all over the Kansas City metro, and I plan to do it all over Nebraska starting tonight (which is actually Wednesday, 11/24/10) through the weekend. The greatest part about this is that I’ve also noticed so many other souls also smiling their little-big hearts out! The other day I was checking out in Hy-Vee Grocery Store in a total hurry, grabbing a quick (delicious) sandwich to run back to work when I got (“of course”) behind the lady who needed a manager to come by and give her a refund for the turkey that the cashier forgot to ring the coupon. I took a silent invisible breath, smiled, and I decided to just stay put in my line anyway. I did have the option of just moving over to the next lane, but I thought, oh c’mon, not that biggie of a deal. By staying, this gave me like 2.7 minutes to actually get back to work and eat my sandwich before I had to see my next client, but I chose to just be patient and smile and experience the moment. This gave me ample opportunity to check out my surroundings and assess my company of Hy-Vee-ers. EVERYBODY was smiling. I totally swear I had been taken back in time to Hollywood and was a character in It’s a Wonderful Life……. “Well whaddya know about that!” Ha! It was a really cool little diddy of a moment, and I was honored to be behind Turkey Lady, who eventually got $11 off her turkey with the manager’s code, took her time paying with a check, needed help with her groceries to the car, and obviously had a lot of cooking to do to celebrate with her people. And, I have also smiled at / with approximately 10 (bordering on 11.5) other people that I did not feel like initially smiling at / with, and I am certain they did not initially feel compelled to smile at / with me.

My list continues onward, and I am giving it good solid college level thought. More to come there, I very much promise. I have to admit, some of it is so hard..... very very hard. Like hard to the point I get grouchy and glad I'm not being filmed on a reality show. But anyway, smiling.......

Oh, and I did some initial research on jumping out of that airplane. I can have the whole experience documented with pictures and video, and it’s gonna be a hoot!

That’s all I got for today. Rock on hot COFFEEs.

9 comments:

Steph said...

T-Pain! Most excellent post, m'dear... I love that you hung out with the Turkey lady in the Hy-Vee line and got to experience that alternate-universe instant of being surrounded by happy people! My shopping experiences were the opposite this week, but that's okay. I thought about you at one point when the man in front of me at Retail Hell (wal-mart, for those of you who don't know how I feel about this "place") nearly chewed the head off the poor cashier about having rung up his pudding box twice. I, inspired by YOU, resisted the urge to physically "defend" the poor woman who had already caught her mistake and removed the $0.49 pudding box from his ticket. (I really did! He was not punched, kicked, scratched, or rammed with my full cart! I swear it!). Instead, I waited until his very unhappy butt was almost ready to leave, smiled and wished him a Happy Thanksgiving. Perhaps I laid on a little too much sweetness, though, because the cashier almost laughed out loud and then thanked me for my "very kind words." She was still smiling when she took half my paycheck and I went off to finish my day. So thank you. I'm glad you're hanging in there on this one. It does work!
I'm excited you can secure video documentation of your jump! That's awesome! If, however, you need some cheerleaders or moral support when you go to do this thing, holla! I'd love to watch from the nice, solid ground, and be there to congratulate you! Would be an honor, for real!
Keep up the good work - am super proud of you, T!

Holly said...

Tanya! I admire your smile project! I am not participating in a lot of in store shopping this year because I think I might hurt someone. Just not in the mood this year. Online will be my MO this year!! Perhaps I need to take a lesson from you and turn that frown upside down! Heehee!
Thanks for a great post on the holiday!

patresa hartman said...

i think the contagious smiling and the surprise $20 are very clear indications of getting what you give! like whatever energy we send into the world, we get back. and i think that is cool as ice, t! what in the world is next????

plane jumping. lord almighty. i would love to stand next to stephany and cheer you on!

(are the people of nebraska smiling back at you?)

Katie said...

Tanya, I love watching you progress toward your goals! And I think the twinge of guilt/happy surprise upon finding the $20 says you are well on your way to filling your cosmic piggy bank with good karma!

I hope turkey day was good to you, and I can't wait to hear about the details of sky diving - and to SEE it!!

And it's funny how when we raise our heads above our daily stream of consciousness, we notice all the really cool things about our surroundings - like your experience at Hy-Vee where everyone seemed to be happy (a smile in every aisle!), and for some reason it can soothe all the minor irritations about having to wait in line (people still use checkbooks? Really? And STILL don't pre-fill them out for expeditiousness, huh?) and being behind Grandpa Moses at the wheel when we're in a hurry, and curbs the urge to hammer with a baseball bat the person who stole our parking spot. (Hmmm... I seem to have a violent streak. Maybe I should be concerned.)

Anyway - good job on the noticing things! Can't wait to read more....

Tanner May (Tanya) said...

Stephany, your Wal-Mart story is so awesome! I am so telling that story around town, Sister Fello Good Cheer! I would LOVE for you to be there when I do my big jump, that would be totally rad cool to have some live cheer! Then we could celebrate by pizza and a beer!!

Oh Holly, yes, I am right there with you on the online thing. I am in LOVE with online shopping! Ya just make a list, check it twice, and hit "submit order." Perfect!

P-Diddy, I sure hope so, although the Negative Nelda in me is like, should I be talking about this "aloud?" But that 20 bucks did come in handy during my weekend of sloth and gluttony over Turkey Day festivities. Nebraska people ARE smiley people, it was great!

Kaie, I always say, thoughts are okay! I believe getting to have those thoughts actually keep us better people. :) You are so right on about raising our heads and taking notice. It can be a very powerful thing. :)

blj said...

Tanya, thanks for sharing! I relate to your posts very much. Sometimes I think I project a scowl without even knowing it. You have inspired me to be a little more conscious about how I might come across to strangers in random public settings. Thanks!

amy said...

Tanya, you and your smiling make me smile! Because quite frankly, I would have switched lanes, and I would have done so while grumbling in my head about Turkey Ladies and crazy holiday crowds. I would be one of the people you'd have to force yourself to smile at.

Which is why I LOVE your project! Because this one time, I was grocery shopping, and I picked THE worst time to do it: Melissa's nap time. She was grumpy and nasty through the whole store, and this made me grumpy and nasty to her. Finally, she fell asleep, in the cart. So I sighed, picked her up, and finished my shopping while lugging around a 35 lb. two year old over my shoulder.

So I had this full grocery cart to unload AND a 35 lb 2 year old over my shoulder, and I had no idea how I was going to unload everything and pay and all that. I was SUPER grumpy at this point. And then? A nice man in front of me said, "You look like you need help. Would you like some help?" And usually, I'm like: No, no. I'll do it myself. But he was so sweet and kind-sounding, so I said yes. And that nice, kind man unloaded my whole shopping cart for me onto the conveyor belt. And it totally made my day, renewed my faith in the goodness of humanity and all that.

Also! It's so funny that happened to you with the $20 and the church giving. I once had a great aunt & uncle who insisted on doing the 10% tithing thing, and our whole family thought they were nuts. Ten percent? Of your WHOLE livelihood? But they always had money to pay their bills, and then some. I sometimes think it's more of a spiritual thing...like, if you're doing it for the right, wide-open heart reasons, the Universe just naturally gives right back to you.

(Full disclosure: I would never give 10% of my money to anyone, even if Jesus Christ personally asked for it. I'd be all: "Woah, now, Jesus. Hold on there, cowboy. I need to eat, yo." But I love it when I hear cool stories of people who give and get back in really A-ha! kind of ways, like $20 falling out of a checkbook. It's a SIGN!) (But don't donate your whole grocery store budget. Or your relaxation funds. Or your vacation money.) (........I'm a really bad influence, aren't I?)

Tanner May (Tanya) said...

Amy, I absolutely love LOVE L O V E your stories!

Becky, I learned today that in Kazakhstan anyone smiling is considered crazy. So... we should mull this over! :)

Tawni said...

Yay for smiling and getting the positivity sent right back at you! I love that! It feels so good, doesn't it?

I still can't believe you are going to jump out of an airplane. You need to understand how brave you are for that. You are a superhero to me. I think my heart would actually stop if I tried that. Right after the pee trickled gently down my leg.

Rock on, brave COFFEE warrior!! :)