having a business is fun. it is also hard work. it is rewarding. it can be frustrating. it can be a place of safety. it can be a place where you feel exposed. it can be a place where you earn a living and provide the opportunity for other people to earn a living. it is a place where you can grow. it can, also, be a place where you can stagnate. in my shop, i have learnt alot of lessons. when you deal with the public, you are exposed. you cannot stagnate in the scrapbooking business, you will lose clients. they want to see new stock daily. you are confronted with clients who view the world very differently from the way you do. you cannot force your view upon them or your creative style. you also have to be friendly - even when clients are not. the past month we have had a tough time with really rude clients at the shop. people who walk in, and regardless of how friendly you are to them, are just miserable and mean. unfriendly and rude. normally we ignore them, and let them be on their way ( thank goodness) as quickly as possible. we had one client, however, that came into the shop with a mission, and regardless of what we did, had the sole purpose of being rude and beligirent. i admit, when she got insulting, i kindly told her that i did not think that we had what she was looking for. both Donsie and i were stunned. we had seen our share of strange people in the shop, but this one took the cherry. worst of all - i can be very direct, and i have been on a mission to try not to be, and if i had been direct that day, i could have understood the events that followed. but i could not. i got an onion!! she sent an sms to our Think Local to say the service in the shop was horrible. and that the lady with the hair ( that would be me) was bombastic and rude. jeepers. i was shocked, to say the least. if i deserved it, i would have owned up to it. but this was so unfair - it just yelled against everything i deem fair. BUT, it made me stop and think. how do i come across? seriously. i might think i am friendly and outgoing, but what if other people see me as blunt and bombastic? what if i speak too loud and i don't listen enough? what if i am not as "ok" as i think? and then it dawned upon me - we are all works in progress. situations like these are used by God to point something out to us. my pointer was that i should beware - although we believe that this lady's visit was no coincidence, the incident did make me acutely aware that the close knit community i call my "scrapbooking community", was expanding, and people i don't know were coming into the shop, and they had different agendas. But, as Romans 8 makes it clear - God can use everything that happens to our good - if we love Him. and i thank him for people like this lady, who make me look at myself and see where i am failing Jesus. where am i not reflecting His mercy, His Grace, His Spirit. and i can only apologise to those i have been less than kind to. i will try to be kinder, gentler and less bombastic!! with the shop growing, it is inevitable that these things will happen. but, by the Grace of God, i believe that with the help of my friends and enemies alike, the journey will be worth it. thanks to all of you who are my mirrors, and help me grow...............xxxxx
having a business is fun. it is also hard work. it is rewarding. it can be frustrating. it can be a place of safety. it can be a place where you feel exposed. it can be a place where you earn a living and provide the opportunity for other people to earn a living. it is a place where you can grow. it can, also, be a place where you can stagnate. in my shop, i have learnt alot of lessons. when you deal with the public, you are exposed. you cannot stagnate in the scrapbooking business, you will lose clients. they want to see new stock daily. you are confronted with clients who view the world very differently from the way you do. you cannot force your view upon them or your creative style. you also have to be friendly - even when clients are not. the past month we have had a tough time with really rude clients at the shop. people who walk in, and regardless of how friendly you are to them, are just miserable and mean. unfriendly and rude. normally we ignore them, and let them be on their way ( thank goodness) as quickly as possible. we had one client, however, that came into the shop with a mission, and regardless of what we did, had the sole purpose of being rude and beligirent. i admit, when she got insulting, i kindly told her that i did not think that we had what she was looking for. both Donsie and i were stunned. we had seen our share of strange people in the shop, but this one took the cherry. worst of all - i can be very direct, and i have been on a mission to try not to be, and if i had been direct that day, i could have understood the events that followed. but i could not. i got an onion!! she sent an sms to our Think Local to say the service in the shop was horrible. and that the lady with the hair ( that would be me) was bombastic and rude. jeepers. i was shocked, to say the least. if i deserved it, i would have owned up to it. but this was so unfair - it just yelled against everything i deem fair. BUT, it made me stop and think. how do i come across? seriously. i might think i am friendly and outgoing, but what if other people see me as blunt and bombastic? what if i speak too loud and i don't listen enough? what if i am not as "ok" as i think? and then it dawned upon me - we are all works in progress. situations like these are used by God to point something out to us. my pointer was that i should beware - although we believe that this lady's visit was no coincidence, the incident did make me acutely aware that the close knit community i call my "scrapbooking community", was expanding, and people i don't know were coming into the shop, and they had different agendas. But, as Romans 8 makes it clear - God can use everything that happens to our good - if we love Him. and i thank him for people like this lady, who make me look at myself and see where i am failing Jesus. where am i not reflecting His mercy, His Grace, His Spirit. and i can only apologise to those i have been less than kind to. i will try to be kinder, gentler and less bombastic!! with the shop growing, it is inevitable that these things will happen. but, by the Grace of God, i believe that with the help of my friends and enemies alike, the journey will be worth it. thanks to all of you who are my mirrors, and help me grow...............xxxxx
Comments
Jesus said to turn the other cheek
He also said to forgive 7 times 70
If you extend the olive branch of kindness and forgiveness and it is not returned, should you really keep trying even if you feel it is a lost cause or will persistence win the day with the honesty and sincerity of words be recognized and acknowledged followed by a reasonable attempt to let bygones be bygones. If I were to release my anger and my pain only to be knocked again, who becomes the bigger fool, Me for trying or them for doing. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose neither happens if you don't take a chance, so I resolve to forgive to be the bigger and better person, give of myself as I would want others to give to me and perhaps this time everyone will win.
Hugs to you my friend, Monica xx