This week, I really wanted to spend some time with a friend who was coming through town for a couple of hours, on a day I was scheduled to work. (Part time, temporary, important, but I’m essentially a cog).

I didn’t actually realize how much my Soul needed to see him, until I was relating the “but I can’t because of work…” to someone else, and started crying!

Wise Jessi said “Wow! You really do need to have some face time, don’t you?” Me: “Yes!!! And an organic hug, not just a virtual one!”   “But it would cost me a lot of dollars that I need, to take the day off.” (Notice the true-but-fuzzy-ness of that objection?)

When I got off the phone, I decided to count what it would *truly cost* (wages + parking or train and bus + lunch = $75) and weighed that against how bad I was feeling at the prospect of missing him, and gave myself permission to give “calling off” a shot.

Within 20 minutes of making that calculation (hadn’t even made any phone calls to find a replacement, yet), I got a call from a client asking what I’d charge to do a tiny job for her, very soon.

“I’ll be coming into the city tomorrow anyway. Why I don’t I bring my kit and do it on site? Does $25 sound like a doable price for you?”

“Oh yes! That would be terrific!” Plans were made, and the dollar-cost of my day off was down to only $50 already.

I talked to the boss then and he said that “We actually have extra people scheduled for Thursday, so Go! Do what you’ve gotta do.” (This was an ‘Unexplained No’ on my part, BTW – I didn’t tell him it was a mental health day or anything of the sort, just that I needed to go into the City in the morning. ) (The gist: “No is a complete sentence. You don’t have to explain or justify or apologize. Just say it when you mean it” ~ Jon Acuff)

When I walked into the coffee shop, G hugged me and held me tight for a long time (first Score, and the original point of this exercise, remember?), then handed me $75 cash, as my percentage of his CD sales last month (second Score! and I’m now up $25 for the day). A delightful day was had (Caribou Coffee is excellent, for the record), and I was reminded of how much I enjoy the energy of the Loop. I made a donation at the cashier, and later gave the kid who asked for a dollar to “help get a ticket home” the whole ten bucks he needed so he didn’t have to keep begging (clearly painful for him). (What goes around comes around, you know?)

When I got to Julia’s, her partner greeted me with “I have another commission for you, if you’re interested…” (totally Bonus Score! + the $25 for the original project). “Yes!”, plus I made a time-line-commitment that won’t strain my schedule.

~ And had dinner with another friend + left-overs for tonight.

~ Plus a blog post, too complete in and of itself to put into Drafts.

All-in-all, Thursday was a huge WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN ~ mentally, emotionally and financially, for me and my friends. What a wonderful world. :)

~~~~~

Thanks to Shanna and Cordelia and Erin and Dave and Ken for the constant blog-reminders of these truths.
Have you proven something beautiful to yourself lately, that you’ve been resisting? Feel free to crow about it ~

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