Because I'm Happy

A story I’ve shared before that bears repeating is about a peer that has a negative way of thinking about herself and her life. That mindset transfers into how she handles her work, how she views herself in others eyes, and pretty much all areas of her life. The reason I retell this is because it continues, to this day, to be a perfect example and reminder for me about the importance of my mindset.

One day, we had some potentially torrential rains off and on throughout the day. This peer, even nowadays, will comment on a dark cloud hovering over her, ready to dispense bad luck at the drop of a hat. I often try to lift her spirits, but for some people, it starts with them. On this day, she arrived at work and complained about how miserable the day already was. It was pouring down raining, she dropped her tea, dropped her cellphone into a puddle, and many other things. It just wasn’t a good morning. As she prepared to head out for her lunch, the brief respite in the weather ended. The skies darkened and rain began to pour down by the bucket. It continued to do so the entire hour she was out of the building for lunch. At her return, I prepared to step out for lunch. She warned me that it was nasty out there. Horrible! Miserable! I was ready. I grabbed my umbrella and my lunch bag and headed for the door. When I walked outside, I was greeted by the brightest sunlight! Birds were chirping. There was a soft breeze blowing. It was by all means a beautiful day. The only evidence remaining of those heavy rains were wet grounds, trees, and cars. Several hours of bright sunlight later, this coworker prepared to head home for the day. As she was gathering her things, my other coworkers and I watched in stunned silence as the skies darkened. We were all thinking, There is no way that’s about to happen again, right? We were wrong. As she headed to the door, once again, buckets of rain unleashed from the skies! 

...a dark cloud hovering over her, ready to dispense bad luck...

While I occasionally have a good chuckle about that, it always makes me think about my mindset. How is my thinking? What do I think about myself that is causing a cloud of negativity to follow me wherever I go? I had this same thought as I was thinking about a loved one recently. We have to learn to love ourselves enough to get extremely choosy about who and what we allow in our personal space. It always boils down to choice. If I find that everyone around me thinks negatively and never seeks out the positive things in life, then it shouldn’t be surprising when that is my experience too, right? 

If you’ve been down that road before, then you’ve noticed that it really doesn’t take much for our mind to grab the negative ball and run a thousand yards without ever letting it go. It’s the Eeyore mindset of even when it’s a positive, it’s a negative. The glass can never be half full because it’s always half empty. That mindset and those consuming thoughts can be dilapidating. Your energy is zapped to the point that you don’t even want to entertain something positive. With the world we live in, listing the negative comes a lot easier.

Thinking positively doesn't mean we are instantly oblivious to the state of the world around us. Instead, it means we have to strive to be intentional about our thoughts. We are allowed to set a standard of who and what we allow in our personal space. Our lives. Start each day with a positive. I once heard someone say that if we speak or think negatively, then, conscious or unconsciously, that’s what we look for. It’s like telling yourself over and over again that you are going to have a horrible day. If that’s your mindset, then at times, you look for the things that are going to make it so. So instead, switch that around and focus on how today and each day after will be blessed. Instead of looking for the curses, look for the blessings. 

Stay Sunny!

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