Working and Working Out

What luck I've happened into!  Last year I was given all the personal training I could handle, at a beautiful—frankly high-class health club, which happens to only be a mile from my front door.

I was by no means perfect throughout the year (who is?), but I made the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity, where I could work out as much as my mushy body would allow, with the support of my family in not having to work for a wage, and with the support of my team of experts at Five Seasons, keeping me safe and on track.

I lost over a hundred pounds and have become a hundred percent more functional over this year and, in service of progress, I wanted to get my very first job, ever.  But who would pick a 27-year old applicant with no work experience and an incomplete college education, for a job that doesn’t serve fries on the side?  In another strike in my view of golden luck, the brilliant and beautiful management at Five Seasons, having seen my evolution and tenacity throughout last year, took a chance on me and hired me to the Member Service Desk—as great of a first job as I could imagine, let alone hope for.

In examining just how great a situation Fortune has found for me, I get to work with the team member friends I've made and get to see all my member friends as they visit throughout the day.

The average commuting worker probable spends accumulated day over the course of a year, sitting in traffic; my trip to work is four minutes and a stoplight.  Then after work we, the responsible people who take care of ourselves, often go to the gym, and for the average person it means a fresh round of commuting hell.  I literally clock out at the gym.  My terse commute to the gym laughs at my commute to work!

Now my job may not be a wage at which I can start a family, but it’s a wonder starting point in the work force, one with real responsibilities (Everyone leaves at night and leave me with the keys to the Club!), and at a fantastic company that—you never know—routinely hires from within.  I look at it as if I’m putting in my time, building up my work ethic like I built up my body. 

As I get used to the routine of working—now that it seems like my work is satisfactory and my tenure is open-ended—I feel much more comfortable behind the Member Service Desk.  I find that I have been planning better and getting more accomplished with my reduce amount of free time, that I don’t have as much time to sit and examine how (low) I may be feeling.  I am also starting to add to my number of workouts per week.  Pretty soon I’ll be back to where I was last year; only now with a full-time job, a little bit of pocket money, and a lot less time to be tempted with the tasty treats at home.  I predict a good run of weight loss in the near future; I can’t wait!

I’m Alive!

I have been in survival mode for the past six weeks—far too sensitive to engage my emotions, far too busy to reflect in writing.  You see, in the service of ever-improving, I’ve started my first job ever, at where else but Five Seasons!

I am working at the Member Service Desk—the front desk—alongside some great people.  To the incoming member, it may seem like we just greet and check people in, exchanging car keys for locker keys if required (This forever member was guilty of thinking this).  But when members go on to do their business we’re billing lessons, answering questions, taking and delivering messages, selling snacks and drinks, signing members up for club events, swimming lessons and tennis classes, making gallons of coffee, and keeping the lemon water jug filled in addition to the shear horror that can be fielding phone calls.

Time passes quickly when we are busy, and it gets crazy during the rushes of the day.  The biggest rush I consistently work is the 6 o’clock dash.  A lot of people get off of work and congregate at the club; on some days the large tennis programs meet and the front drive is a parking lot of parents dropping off their lil’ tennis players.  I remember walking with this flow last year thinking, “This is something!”  Working opposite this flood I think, “This is nuts!”

I can do little but check-in from memory familiar faces as everyone hustles past the desk, but the phone rings as well and at times it rings consistently enough that the three holding lines fill, and still it rings!  Then a kid wants a Powerade and I retrieve his desired flavor and his account number, while a member is waiting for his car keys with a look that may not be impatience, but mimics it because they’re tired from working out and ready to go home, and you pick up a hold that you imagine is hating you for making them wait for five minutes only to hear it’s a swim class signup you know will take another five, and you take deep breaths, telling yourself that you’re doing as well as one can and you don’t suck at your job, only to look to your side to see that Powerade’s buddy decides he wants one as well, quick and now as he is late for practice!  It’s a wonderful, breathless pandemonium, and I feel like a quarterback constantly calling audibles to prevent getting run over by the opposition.

But when you get the child signed up for swim lessons, and you record as many tennis kids that streamed by as possible, and you and your trenchmate work through the holds and no calls ring to replace them, you take a moment to realize that the rush is over.  You thank your proficient training and your wits, the fellow standing next to you and the general patience and good nature of the members.  You go replenish the water, clean up the lobby, and get ready for the next rush.

With a more subdued pace of activity in between the peaks of flow, a shift thus quickly passes.  It is a great first job!