Day 13

*updated 09/16/10*

Well what do you know! After berating myself over it for 3 days and suffering various ulcers and anxiety over it...I got a call back from the club manager today telling me that they were able to reactivate me! Yes! I am so happy! He gave me a month-long pass to use until he was able to clear this up with his manager but based on what he told me, there was a slim to non chance. This is such a welcome surprise!

*end update*

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

There is no use crying over spilt milk.

All sorts of clichés that are designed to make one feel better when one screws up doesn't usually actually make one feel one whit better about the screw-up. I guess what separates happy/contented people and unhappy/depressed people is how a person actual deals with said screw up.

I screwed up big and I *felt* like it was the end of the world but really, it's not that bad. It'll just cost me. Several years ago, my employer gave me a pre-paid 3 year membership to the gym with an annual renewal of $24. Great deal! I was set for the rest of my life! Fast forward to last year--I moved and forgot to change my address. I was sick of all the gym's spammy emails so I unsubscribed from the emails without realizing that they wouldn't send me account information either. In the past, when my renewal date was due, they would let me know. Somehow, this location was different. I went at least two times after my renewal was supposedly expired and they let me in. Basically, I was never informed that my renewal was due and I didn't find out that I was passed due until Saturday.

So what is the lesson here? Obviously, my error was in not updating my address--an error the club people liked to repeat "it is YOUR job to update blah blah" and they did not like it when I replied, "and it is YOUR job to not let people with overdue accounts in and it is YOUR job to collect payment due. Had YOU denied me entry the first 2 times after my membership expired, I would had been put on notice that it was due and I would have made your "reactivation period". Long story (somewhat shortened), despite my best efforts, my ability to re-activate hangs on a very thin-to-nonexistent thread and my life-membership has ended due to my screw up.

At first--I had a mini panic attack because I don't want to re-buy the membership. Then I had a small anxiety attack because they don't even do the 3 year membership + lifetime renewals anymore even if I could scrape together the hundreds to pay for it up front. All I can say is...this totally sucks but I have done all that I can do short of contacting the Regional VP (which I plan on doing if the club manager denies my activation). What is the point in letting this add additional stress into my already stressed out life? What good can come from the pit of acid stirring in my stomach from utter injustice of this? How can I benefit from berating myself since I am already suffering?

No...I must think positively and think of the best. I made a big mistake according to my life and situation but in the grand scheme of things, it is such a minute little insignificant thing. No, this is not something that I can someday look back and laugh at but if it does not get resolved the way I wish it would, there is no use dwelling on it. I will cease to think of it and if I must think of it, I will just consider myself lucky for having even gotten a supremely great free gym membership for the past 6 years.

Total Spent on Food today: $.85
Est. Cost of food: leftovers, so $0