I
have not been a morning person lately. I am, as Matthew Englehart helped me phrase it, "poopy in the morning". When I heard we had a 7am meeting at the Berkeley Cafe where I work the next day, I treated it as an unfortunate circumstance to surrender to. I woke this morning to my cell phone alarm in the dark, slept in an extra two "sleep" rounds and moved slowly around the apartment releasing stiffness and the longing to stay in bed. What could possibly make me happy to be conscious right now? What could possibly make me glad?
I made it to the meeting just on time, and when I walked inside the cafe all my coworkers were moving around making themselves tea, or sitting on the couches or chairs talking, smiling and... giggling. Giggling!! In the morning! At work?!
The promise of Cafe Gratitude is that we are all here for amazing reasons, and even something as seemingly logistical as a retail meeting is inspiring, educating and wonderful. Amanda Caskey is our Retail Goddess- she the General Manager of the retail department and so much more. She stayed up all night excitedly preparing a full, concise, first-ever training in many of the special products we carry at our Cafes, and gave us a huge run-down on how those products are chosen and the intense standards she is responsible for and passionate about on all levels including quality, environmental impact and social justice. We drank shots of Noni juice, chewed up Chlorella tablets and tasted immune-boosting chocolate. We asked questions, shared knowledge and I now feel more empowered to help customers navigate our large retail area. I headed home to hit off the rest of my day.
have not been a morning person lately. I am, as Matthew Englehart helped me phrase it, "poopy in the morning". When I heard we had a 7am meeting at the Berkeley Cafe where I work the next day, I treated it as an unfortunate circumstance to surrender to. I woke this morning to my cell phone alarm in the dark, slept in an extra two "sleep" rounds and moved slowly around the apartment releasing stiffness and the longing to stay in bed. What could possibly make me happy to be conscious right now? What could possibly make me glad?I made it to the meeting just on time, and when I walked inside the cafe all my coworkers were moving around making themselves tea, or sitting on the couches or chairs talking, smiling and... giggling. Giggling!! In the morning! At work?!
The promise of Cafe Gratitude is that we are all here for amazing reasons, and even something as seemingly logistical as a retail meeting is inspiring, educating and wonderful. Amanda Caskey is our Retail Goddess- she the General Manager of the retail department and so much more. She stayed up all night excitedly preparing a full, concise, first-ever training in many of the special products we carry at our Cafes, and gave us a huge run-down on how those products are chosen and the intense standards she is responsible for and passionate about on all levels including quality, environmental impact and social justice. We drank shots of Noni juice, chewed up Chlorella tablets and tasted immune-boosting chocolate. We asked questions, shared knowledge and I now feel more empowered to help customers navigate our large retail area. I headed home to hit off the rest of my day.
The alternate reality I so craved at 6:15 in the morning would have been staying in bed until my body's habit patterns woke me up, which I do plenty of on my days off, and which isn't actually as fulfilling as it seems. I realize that discomfort is always present in opening up one's life to playing a bigger game. Being willing, no, fully enjoying getting up early on one of my days off to get to a meeting at my place of employment is playing a much bigger game for me.
For you this might mean the yoga class you fully enjoy a half an hour in, or the peace you feel from your meditation after dragging yourself from under the covers. The dragging has always been hard for me, but I am inspired by the awareness that I want to play a big game in life. I would rather experience the joy of a deep, inspiring life than move through mediocrity while feeling like I'm not moving at all. Thanks Berkeley Crew and Amanda! You are awesome.
This post was submitted by Maggie Horton-Brande.
Tagged in: sleep , resistance , passion , noni , morning , inspiration , Gratitude , Chocolate , Chlorella , Being present