Furling for dollars

Ok, I’ve been doing this massage therapy thing for a while. But two weeks ago I thought I was going to have to hire a Sign-Twirler.

Darn, it was slow. Everybody was busy, out of town, broke or otherwise engaged. I know how to handle these things. I’ve been around. But I must say one can have a crisis or two when it seems like you are playing a part in that Virgin commercial: “Where Is Everyone?”

It happens, I know, to all of us in massage from spas to clinics to house call-only folks. It’s just you don’t get used to it. Especially when you think you are doing all the things that you know pay off in a full book and a chunky paycheck.

So was I waving like a blade of grass in the gentle breeze of life? Did I use the unexpected extra time to finish that c.e.u. course or secret shop the competition?

No. I was getting uptight. Tense enough to think about what would happen to me if I had to get a real job. Oh, no. I used to have a real job. I had enough of them between junior high school and age 35 that I never want to have another one again. Seriously. Massage beats standing in an orange vest with “May I Help You” in big white letters on your back.

Wait a minute, I said to myself in the vast bowling alley of my office. Insecure is good. Insecure works. Insecure can motivate. How can I use this energy to focus? I whipped through the book. Was I re-booking every client? Whom had I forgotten? Who forgot their calendar and dropped off the radar? Am I running on time? Are people getting called back right away? Am I asking clients to refer people? Stinky breath? Dust bunnies in the therapy room?

I audited myself, a fool’s errand, yes, but it does work.

The next week the books had revived, the tundra came back to life. I was tired enough by Wednesday to think about how I could spread some appointments out a little more. The tent revival I had with myself had worked.

It is good to have a little edge here and there to make sure you are not blaming the economy for your slack-jaw ways... Now to schedule a massage for myself...