Messages from My Oatmeal... and My First Day at The Working Centre!

Here is the original post that I had to rewrite due to my computer issues!

It was the morning of Monday January 31^st and I was getting ready for my first day at the Working Centre, I was nervous for a couple of reasons: The first reason was that I had decided to take the bus (by myself) to the Working Centre instead of drive, and I have never taken the bus anywhere by myself. This was a little anxiety provoking as I was unsure what bus would get me where I needed to go. However, I am a firm believer in being as prepared as possible, so I looked up where I needed to go and how I planned on getting there before I left the house. This lowered my anxiety a little, but because I was not 100% that I was going to get on the right bus I decided to ask someone at the bus stop, and they actually told me a quicker way to get where I needed to go. I am definitely not afraid to ask for directions, which I believe will get me far in my travels this summer. Asking for directions is one of those things that I have Never had a problem with... I think it’s because I have ZERO sense of direction so I get lost A LOT, and this means calming yourself down and either stopping and asking for directions, stopping somewhere that sells maps and just figuring it out for yourself, or (and my favourite) just continuing to drive, enjoying the ride and realizing that you’ll figure it out at some point! But anyway, back to why I was nervous that day, the second reason was that it was my first day at a new volunteer placement with new people. This was making me nervous because I was kind of questioning whether I had picked the right volunteer placement for myself... these thoughts were going through my head before I had even had breakfast.

So I moved my morning along and while I was eating my Peaches and Cream Oatmeal I was reading the information on the little packets, they have a section called ‘Tips for a Happy Heart’. I usually eat two packets of oatmeal, the first one said “Be an eternal optimist”, I started thinking about my current situation that morning with the bus and first volunteer day and decided to put on a happy face and look at both of these things as new adventures! I was now in the mindset that this was going to be a new and exciting day. Then I read the second oatmeal packet and it said “Never underestimate your capacity for change”, well this definitely changed my mood. Now it wasn’t just my face that was smiling, it was my heart too! In that small amount of time I had accepted a signal that day that changed my mood of anxiety into excitement and changed my whole view on my upcoming day, before I had even left the house. Now, I like to think that these are two things that I try to keep in mind everyday, no matter the challenges I am up against, but I have since decided to post these on my desk just as little reminders so that I don’t forget!

I had made it to the Working Centre in one piece and without any troubles; I walked into Maurita’s Kitchen and asked the first person I saw if I could speak to Tracey... I explained who I was and why I was there (she wasn’t aware that I was coming that day... but I just went with it!) and right away she started me on a cooking project. I liked this getting down to work business. If I had a question I asked anyone that was close by and got myself acquainted with the kitchen. While I was at my work station I introduced myself to some people and we chatted about why we were there, some people were volunteering, while others were there for co-op. It was a very neat experience to be a part of such a diverse group of people (in a kitchen no less). I was happy to do whatever needed to be done, even if it went beyond my comfort level. There are not too many things that I don’t feel I can adapt to, but one thing that I know gives me a little bit of the uneasy feeling is that of cleaning dishes... I know it may seem small, but I may have a little bit of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) when it comes to cleaning dishes. So, instead of just jumping in and taking over the cleaning part, I decided to step back and do some of the drying. I realize that to some people this may seem a little odd, but there is a tight feeling that I get when I see other people washing dishes, because I just want to get in there and do it myself so that I know 100% that those dishes are clean and ready to be used because they have been washed properly. I feel that this was a good learning experience for me because I need to be able to adapt to the way things are done and accept that not everything is going to be done exactly how I would do it myself.

All in all, I ended up having a Great experience getting myself to and back home from a new place using a new type of transportation, and most importantly I was able to jump into my new volunteer placement with both feet and really had a great experience with a new group of people!!