Everyone has a bad day. Sometimes those bad days add up and run together. I’ve had them. I’ve been there. But does it get the best of you? Do you exude misery? Do you exacerbate the problem? Do you become the problem?
The other day at Target, I was at the check out and just waiting and watching people. I sensed someone before she got near me. It was very strange. It was almost a feeling of repulsion that was nudging me full on. I watched as this woman not really wearing a full scowl, but just oozing negativity reached across me to get the divider sticks. I could feel her unhappiness, her aggression and her complete and total lack of awareness. Intrigued and a little unsettled, I watched her out of the corner of my eye. And then as I thanked the cashier, I watched the interaction. She was just ugly. I grabbed my things and left. Then, in the parking lot, I watched her as she held up about 4 cars, including me, by putting her cart nose in to the side of her car after the car next to her pulled out. She left no room for a car who was waiting to get in. She then proceeded to open her trunk, and move things around etc… The woman in the other car gave me the what’s up with her sign with her hands I shrugged and shook my head. She finally gave her a wee tap of the horn to get her to look up and see the stand still she’d caused in every direction. She then threw her hands up in the air and said something angrily as if we were all stupid somehow. That little interaction with a highly negative person bothered me all day.
And then, you have my mom. My mom was back in the hospital last week. She was in ICU. She’s got Alzheimer’s. She couldn’t remember what you just told her a minute ago, but by golly, she was cheerful and chipper. Really? She’s in the hospital, confused, frightened, frustrated, tired and hooked up to tubes and monitors. She had her moments where she fussed at someone for manhandling her, or hurting her, but immediately she apologized for being grumpy. Really? Wow! Nurses were thanked and told they were pretty. They were told they were so good at what they did, they were gentle and smart. The whole ICU loved my mom. They would walk out and say, “She’s so sweet.” Even though she was clearly in a bad spot, she was lovely, gracious and classy.
Clearly my mom is special. Obviously we aren’t all capable of the degree to which she is genuine and cheerful. My point is that we all have a choice and the way we choose to project ourselves affects others directly. Some of it comes to us naturally and some of us are blessed with the “happy gene” as my mom calls it, but most of it comes from the decision to be nice even in the face of adversity. Choose well.
adverbcreative
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