Last week, one of my friends at work gave me a book: The Art of Living, a collection of thoughts by Epictetus. While a lot of what Epictetus said resonated deeply, one quote stood out above the rest.
"Make the best use of what happens to you."
I get the chills typing it.
Reader, it was another grueling, long week at the restaurant. We're still short-staffed. A lot of equipment broke. We lost track of inventory. And tensions were high. I was getting mired in it, and by Saturday afternoon, I felt truly lost.
Until I remembered that quote from Epictetus.
And it dawned on me to ask: what can I use here? And when I looked at it that way, the day may not have gotten better, but I sure did get a lot out of it. I made plans on how to track inventory. I tried again to find more staff. I found better equipment solutions. And I even wrote a few verses of a song about those high tensions.
(Not to mention: I learned a lot about what I didn't want to do next week.)
Anyhow, I'm not sure if it helps you to read this quote as well, but I thought I'd pass it along, just in case. Whether or not you have a good week, I hope you're able to make good use of it all. See you next Monday. -Em