"For myself, I am an optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else." -Winston Churchill
If you follow Maggie's Octopus, you already know that I have been working at a liquor store since early July. This job is a (huge) part of the "Stress Free Year Off" plan. Even though I don't make a whole lot of money there, it has been the perfect place for me since leaving my other job. I go there every day knowing what lies ahead. I don't have many (or really, any) confrontations with people. I don't have to think very hard. I laugh A LOT because my co-workers are hilarious. I listen to the radio. I dance. Bottom line? I have fun.
Obviously, my career goal is not to work at a liquor store for the rest of my life. But for someone who has been pushing and going nonstop and juggling thousands of balls in the air at her old job, this job is such a breath of fresh air. It feels like I was driving in rush hour traffic forever and ever, and then one day, I just pulled off the highway and onto a quiet back road. It's great!
My other blog features funny stories about liquor store customers...the crazy things they do, the odd things they say...but this post is going to be a little different. I want to tell you about a really wise customer who comes in every now and then. I bet he has no idea that he is the inspiration for today's post. Here goes.
This man seems like a typical guy...nothing flashy about him, just your Average Joe. He says "Hello" when he walks into the store, makes his purchase, and leaves without much excitement. However, there is something that sticks out about him. Whenever a customer leaves the store, I always say, "Have a great day." Most people just say, "You, too" or "Thanks" and walk out the door. But this man is different. He always says the same thing whenever I tell him to have a nice day...
"I will."
It might sound kind of simple, but I always notice it. "I will." Maybe it's just what he says, but I like to think it's something more. Think about it. What if every day, as you head out into the world, you made a decision that it was going to be a great day? What if you told yourself, "I will have a great day today." It seems like an easy thing to do, but honestly, I don't always do that. Some days I wake up feeling tired or cranky or defeated...almost like I have already decided on having a bad day. Why do I do that? Why do a lot of us do that? What if we all just decided to have a great day every day? And then we did our best to go out and make it happen?
Tomorrow morning when I wake up, I am going to tell myself that it is going to be a great day. I'll let you know how it goes!
QUESTIONS FOR YOU: Do you have any morning rituals that help you prepare for the day? Do they work? Do you think starting your day a certain way has an impact on the rest of your day?
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I do this all the time! I actually have a few different ways of doing the "I will," technique - and not just in the morning. I find ways to do it all day long. I do like to start my morning with music, however. I respond to music with every fiber of my being. A good song gets to me physically, mentally and emotionally. When I drive to work I always take a moment in the driveway to stop, think of how I want to feel today, and then choose music to play during my drive that will make me feel the way I want to feel.
ReplyDeleteAnother little thing I do to help me "choose my mood" is to light a candle that smells nice, take a deep breath and think about what ever might be troubling me or even just playing on my consciousness and then imagine everything turning out well. I imagine how it will feel when it turns out the way I want it to. I really let the feeling in and relish in it.
In developing these processes (I have about 10 of them) I discovered a bad habit I have. I tend to get carried away in my thoughts and emotions and I found when I happened upon a negative thought and the emotions that came with it, I'd dwell on it, invite more thoughts like it in, and all the associations I'd built up over the years that tie in to that emotional state and thought pattern would come careening in to my consciousness and make me feel worse - which would affect the things happening in my day! When I learned to interrupt the thoughts and feelings (literally saying to myself, "No, self, I don't want to feel that way. I don't want to think about that stuff.") and actively choose what I did want to feel and think about, I noticed that all sorts of positive things would happen to me. It was literally the major turning point in my life, because everything that has happened since seems a bit "charmed." Even getting laid off from all of my jobs appears to me as a blessing. An opportunity just waiting to be taken!! Sure, there have been moments of stress (how am I going to pay for that?!?), but when I interrupt those thoughts and instead choose to see the good stuff, at the end of every month, everything is miraculously paid and I even have a little extra in my accounts.
I think it's kind of like buying a new car. You're sitting in your new, blue corolla and all of a sudden you see blue corollas everywhere you go! You wonder, "Did everyone go out and get a blue corolla on the same day as I did?" Of course not, but your brain is tuned in to the frequency of "blue corolla." When you choose to tune your brain in to good thoughts and feelings, you notice opportunities to feel good all around you.
New age hooey? Maybe, but it totally works for me!
Thanks, Laura! I appreciate your great ideas...I hope you continue to post. I am very much a music lover, too. I will talk more about that later! :)
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