Oh look, Chicken Thursday!

For self-encouragement, I think it is important to seek out quick little victories from time to time, especially when other things you are forced to do become more complicated than they should be.

Case in point: A client, who usually pays by cheque in the mail, was more than a month overdue paying their most recent invoice so I charged them a late fee of 2 percent. They contacted me and asked if they could pay what they owed by credit card and I accommodated their request. I then realized that the credit card company was going to take a fee higher than the late fee I charged so in the end I was going to end up being paid less. I figured, "Oh well, that's the cost of being in business."

But then I heard back from the client that when they tried to pay the invoice by credit card the online form would not allow them to enter the full amount they owed. So I took some time to duplicate the issue on my end and then I called the credit card processor to try and get the situation fixed. I explained everything to a support person who then put me on hold to try and solve my problem. Twenty minutes later I was disconnected. I phoned back and explained my problem to someone else. They were a really good listener - so good, in fact, that at one point I had to ask, "Are you still there?" They were - until 5 minutes later when I was disconnected.

So I called back, a third time, and explained, a third time, what was going on. That person put me on hold to look into the problem. I was on hold for over 60 minutes. The hold music was the same song over and over and over and it wore me down almost to the point where I was about to give up the secret location of the troops when number 3 returned. He told me he was going to have to pass me to a different technical department - and did.

The guy in the next department answered and asked me what was going on and how could he help. Yup, I had to tell my whole story for a 4th time. Three hours after I had begun my quest for a solution, he explained that their payment form was best described as "finicky" and suggested a workaround.

Which brings me back to seeking out little victories in life. Since that little result took a 3 hour time investment to produce, I decided it was time to do something little that would bring some greater satisfaction. I went straight to unplugging some very slow flowing plumbing in the basement of our house. It was messy, gooey, and super stinky, but after 20 minutes I had won! I even broke one of my wrenches in the process, which I also consider a win because I can go shopping for a new one - score!

When some tasks have fought/are fighting you all the way, look around for one you can beat easily. Sometimes the biggest win you can get is only a small one.

Enjoy the rest of today's mailing.

~ Pastor Tim