Thursday, April 1

Gratitude when it is difficult




I was sitting cross legged on the floor attempting to practice yoga. My mind, however is as full as my in box, so yoga will wait for another day.


Before I start what may be a lengthy post, I will tell you with great joy, that I am keeping tooth #14. I will not go in to the gory details of my dental visit yesterday, but I am sporting a cute temporary crown and the rest is healing. Thank you for your prayers and good wishes.


Since business on etsy has been difficult for even those who sell regularly, my inbox has been filled with pleas for advice, assistance and lots of swear words. The fora is filled with panic and queries and finger pointing. I don't dismiss the fear, it is real, but it is both time and soul sucking.


Do I know what the problem is? No. Do I think the snafu will be rectified? YES. I may seem lighthearted, but I take my business very seriously. I monitor my etsy shop and my website like a hawk. My small website is humming along right now. For this I have eternal gratitude. If a customer remembers my name and googles it, there I am. If they are looking for a map necklace, or cuff links, there I am.


I know that Google did not change the big algorithm in the sky. They are not mad at etsy. Etsy is not mad at you. Seriously, etsy the company, and the people I have come to know who work there, want you to succeed as much as you do. Truly. For that, I am also grateful.
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So, how do you have gratitude when it is difficult? It requires a paradigm shift in perception. For me, it requires thought as well as deed. The thought part is pretty easy. I remember the things I know. My work is as good today as it was yesterday. The slump is temporary. And, even though the Universe knows how grateful I am to live the life I do, I tell her again just in case my signal has faded.
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The deed part is a little harder. It's what gets your engine reved up, though. I'm working on a new line sheet, a new spiffy tri- fold brochure and I'm thinking about new floral shades for the 6 glorious windows in my studio.
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Go ahead, whine. Then have gratitude, love, work and play really hard.
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When my husband saw that my tooth was saved, he went out to the garage, took down my favorite bike and pumped up my tires. There was no better gift. So, today, you'll know where I'll be.
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xoSherry




13 comments:

peaseblossomstudio said...

Happy to hear you are keeping the tooth! Thank you for your inspiring words and being a calm voice of reason.

Monica said...

Glad you get to keep your tooth! A wonderful post with great advice. Enjoy your bike ride :)

connie said...

Have a great day and I hope you get to ride your bike! Congrats on the tooth too!!!

I have always been a half full girl and It is a wonderful way to go through life. Thanks for the lovely post.

Dennice {Fringe} said...

What a wonderful (and significant) gesture for you to get on that bike today after learning you will keep your tooth. It's the perfect celebration of that good news.

I have missed a few of your previous posts and regret doing so. I want you to know you will always have a cheering section in me...

A positive outlook full of hope is the only way to live life...easier said than done, but true. Your advice is well received and valuable, sweet friend.

xoxo

Ginny Huber said...

Glad that you and #14 are not parting company. (I always have found the dental numbering system amusing((?)!) and it always a reliefe when dental things go better than expected! Hope you had a fine bike ride; and thanks for passing along the words about gratitude!

Mary Richmond said...

great post--very thoughtful and i agree with you so it must be right ;-)

Wear Your Wild said...

Nice to hear the news about ole #14!
I agree with everything you said about Etsy, so there is no need to repeat any of it.
It's a beautiful April Fool's Day in TN. Enjoy your ride.

Laura Flavin said...

happy tooth day! and thank you for your words on staying positive and being thankful and.....working on the big picture stuff. xo, Laura

Lynn Lunger said...

Oh yes! So glad you're keeping the tooth! The work leading up to keeping it is not fun, but largely behind you now.

Beautiful day for a bike ride!

Kathy said...

Yippee on the tooth and thanks for the great post. I'm not sure what people expect some times. Life is what it is. You can only control certain things, the rest you can't. you can get up every day and smile and go out and do what you can do....and just keep smiling because everything else is the way it is.

It isn't fun when sales are down. No point in trying to over analyze. We need to be sure that we didn't change anything that was successful when things were going better.

Hope you enjoyed that ride Sherry!

Rebecca said...

Glad you don't have to worry any more over your tooth, and I do hope you nejoyed a lovely ride today on the bike... what a very sweet gesture on your husband's part. Sometimes they do just the right thing, don't they?

as far as gratitude... I find that we cannot hold the happiness in our lives in the hands of others. It must be found in our own hands and souls. So if sales are down, as mine have been, do you become miserable and worrisome? What's the point? You figure out what else you might need to do to continue creating, to enrich your own product, to fulfill your own creative soul.

So thanks for the post... always a good reminder. Whining might make us get our frustration off our chest, but it sure doesn't boost our happiness.

BlueTerracotta said...

So glad your tooth is saved! What an inspiring post...thank you. I just got back from the dentist's (work on #26 for me)!I feel better already :)

Waterrose said...

Yay for the tooth! Thanks for the sensible words and the perspective. It's always good to reach out in other ways and take other measures to succeed. I've tried to ignore what's going on at Etsy...only because there seems to always be something of which I have no control. While I haven't sold much lately on Etsy, I have locally and that truly makes me happy. Hugs to you and have a great weekend!