Today is Remembrance Day here in Canada (in case any readers aren't Canadian). It is a day when we remember fallen soldiers from any war in the last 100 years, or in other words WWI and on. Sometimes we make special mention of fallen police, fire, and other emergency personnel as well, and also men and women who gave their lives during battles before WWI that were integral in securing the country we so dearly know and love as today's Canada.
In note of that, I would like to make mention of and thank every person who has or is involved in the Canadian armed forces, both at home and abroad, for donating their resources and risking their lives in order to keep Canada free. You are greatly appreciated and respected nationwide.
It being Remembrance Day, and myself working at a university cafeteria, and the holiday being so close to the weekend, the store was unusually dead today. All the university midterm exams finished yesterday, and the student body was basically nonexistant - everyone took a four day weekend. I hardly saw ten people the whole time I was there.
Because it was so dead, everyone (especially me, because I don't do any cooking) had next to nothing to do. Around 9:30, my boss came into my area and said that sales were much lower than expected (even for the holidays), they didn't need to keep nearly as many people around and I could go home after three hours. I normally do six per day, with a half hour lunch. So today, I went home, after three hours, excited because I could now watch the Remembrance Day ceremonies on television (I was too late to attend an actual service as I usually do). Around 2pm, my boss called me at home and said that they expected the same tomorrow, and because they only needed one dishwasher, for a few hours, to keep up with the demand, my shift was cancelled. They chose the night guy to get the hours for tomorrow on account of senority, as he's been working three weeks longer than I have.
I was excited about today and neutral on tomorrow, but I conceded it would be nice to have such a long weekend. I posted about it on Facebook, just because I was excited about not having to get up tomorrow and such.
My friend commented and was like, "Why would you want your shift to be cancelled? If it was me, I'd be furious."
Which made me think about, again, how much time people waste being angry or disappointed over things that can't be changed. Like, actually. cannot. be. changed. No matter what you do or try to do.
Things like today, and tomorrow. I might've been able to stay a bit longer today, but with nothing to do. Plus, he said to go. So whatever. Tomorrow though.. well, boss is boss. He says no, I don't go.
And like my friend said, I could be furious. A lot of people would be. But I'm not. I can't do anything about it. The way I see it, he's right. The other dishwasher has more senority. Plus, the other dishwasher also has a child he's supporting and needs the hours much more than I do. Plus, I now have time to do things tomorrow that might not otherwise get done in a busy weekend. Plus, I don't have to wake up at 6 if I don't want to. It really depends on how you look at things.
To me, being angry at something I can't change is wasting energy that could more wisely and prudently be invested into something else, something which would see a result. For instance, I had two conversations within the last forty eight hours that, in my opinion, justify anger.
One, my mom's friend's daughter, approximately 15 years old, recently asked her mother to purchase some things that were simply outside of the limits of the mother's budget. The mother, trying to exercise prudence with her funds, said no.. to which the daughter replied that her mother should buy her said things because, as the parent, it is her responsibility to keep the daughter happy. (Should mention that daughter has a job and is capable of saving for wanted things). To me, the mother's resulting anger at her daughter's lack of respect and disregard of their financial situation is justifiable. It is a situation which could be changed, depending on the way mother chooses to answer her daughter, and what she teaches her about money and wise spending and saving, and respecting her mother's decisions and efforts.
Second situation involved a friend who was helping her boyfriend out temporarily with funds, but felt that she was giving him too much, and wanted to retain more for herself and her own expenses. As often happens with couples when talking about major issues, they disagreed and she was angry that he wanted so much.. but they talked about it and settled it suitably for both.
I don't think either of the subjects in those stories wasted their time being angry, because both situations were legitimate and things needed to and could be changed. Nor do I think being angry about cancelled shifts would be pointless if they were routinely being cancelled.. however, one shift, to me, is not worth it. I'm not losing the job and I know that this is just because of a holiday.
Similar situations I've run into include being angry over the weather, that one fell in the mud.. you know what I mean. Things that seem insurmountable like taxes and laws aren't always.. stand up for what you want, be angry, vote on it, write letters.
I hope this makes sense to you.. it's one of those things where it changes with every situation. But there are a lot of people who spend thousands of minutes upset over things they can do nothing about and that can't be changed.. minutes they'll never get back.
If you hypothetically had one million minutes in your life, and would die the second the last minute was up, how much of that would you want to spend mad, upset, or disappointed that you didn't have to? There's such a thing as righteous anger, but I would say that most of the time, anger isn't worth it.
Think about it when you find yourself getting angry. "I only have this minute of this day of this year once. I'll never have it again.. do I want to spend it joyful and appreciate the life I have, or angry and clouded because I refuse to see the good side of things?" Practice changing your perspective, and then do it as often as you can.. you'll find life gets lots more enjoyable.
"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."
~Mary Engelbreit
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