Opportunity File

[vaneramos]

I took a step in the right direction today. It started with a long walk away from the river through a neighbourhood I rarely explore.

I gave myself the day off from writing, too. I can't remember who suggested doing that once a week, but it seems like a good idea. In practice I often skip days unintentionally, but with a nudge of guilt or frustration. Taking a planned break reasserts self-control. I actually want to write for my habitual three hours today, but I'm telling myself no. I'll be all the more eager to get down to work when tomorrow comes. Meanwhile, I have a chance to relax and address other matters.

Uh, this was just meant to be a brief note in my LJ and it's turning into a story. Well, for now let's just pretend I'm talking, not writing.

So I went for this walk in a different direction to shake things up some more and see what falls out. I thought about my mechanisms for avoidance, which I wrote about in a post on Saturday (Delayed reaction, some sexual content).

If I would face a single uncomfortable situation every day, I could start to clear the backlog.

Three particular matters came to mind: two are problems which I could let pass and end up paying a price, the third is a writing lead I want to pursue. So here we go. I'll create an Opportunity File for items that cause me stress, but which I can do something about.

So I came home, quivering with potential. First issue off the top? The unexpected extra charge on my car rental.

I picked up the phone and dialed the company.

A cheerful voice on the other end: "Enterprise Rent-a-Car. We pick you up. Carrie speaking. How can I help you?"

"I'm afraid I have a complaint to make."

I explained the problem politely: that they had quoted the price for an economy car for one month, and shouldn't have charged for 30 days plus one day at the mid-size rate.

Carrie didn't miss a heartbeat: "No problem. We'll fix that right away. I was the one at the counter. I remember thinking it was strange."

She's going to pay the difference back to my credit card.

A simple phone call. Good customer service. Forty-six dollars.

That's when the self-deprecation started. I reminded myself I'm not stupid, I'm neurotic. I just did something I might have neglected to my own detriment, and doing it made me feel better.

I'm going to save myself the embarrassment of writing about the thing I have to do tomorrow.

Comments

[themage.livejournal.com]

That's a good-feeling worth thing, even if you feel silly that it required you to revisit it for resolution. I won't fill up your journal with my thoughts on the subject (I'll use my own), but merely say 'Good on you.'

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the encouragement!

[jwg.livejournal.com]

Your experience in the situation with the car rental is so typical for many of us. There is definitely a lesson to learn here.

So frequently one discovers that something went wrong or that something needs to be found out and then you go through all these thoughts of what if? / how could I have been so dumb? / what is the world coming to? / what should I have done differently?. Then finally make a phone call or ask the person and the problem gets resolved simply. Lots of lost sleep could be gained by avoiding procrastination. Especially when the worst thing that could happen is getting a no to something that wasn't so important anyway.

As they say in the Nike ad: Just Do It! (I think I have a long list of these things to do.)