“If you are complaining you can't be thinking about or creating what you do want.”
― Jon Gordon, The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy
As many of you likely already know 2013 ended on a very high note as I accepted a new position at my place of employment. I can honestly say that this was the best decision I have made in quite some time. Walking into an office where you feel that you have some input in the direction of the team and that your efforts are appreciated is the most rewarding work environment you can ever hope to experience. I have a team of people around me that genuinely enjoy working together and complement each other's talents phenomenally. The positive vibes in that place are nothing short of contagious. And there begins my journey of 2014......POSITIVITY. I have admittedly been guilty of being one of those people that can find something wrong with anything and everything. I can bitch, moan and whine with the best of them. I can kill a good time with a bad frame of mind as quickly as anyone you have ever met. I would not say it was a frequent habit, but it was too frequent for my liking. Through some personal reflection and some suggested readings, I have begun the process of ridding myself of the negativity in my life.
“Any fool can criticize, complain, and condemn--and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.”
― Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends & Influence People
I decided that I wanted to start doing more positive and beneficial activities and that I wanted to get back into a frame of mind where I am learning something every day. When I was young I loved to learn new things. I loved to be involved in activities that benefitted others. Those things made me happy and I had really gotten away from them. In putting those thoughts into action, I have already read 3 books regarding identifying your strengths and what makes you happy. Conversely they also help you identify what it is that brings out the negative in your world. I took the lead on a charity bowling event that a team at work was getting involved in. I used my efforts (and some good-hearted public shaming) to help the team raise over $1,100 for the event. Every dollar was a small win for the organization that is receiving it. But every dollar was also a win for me because I enjoyed knowing that I was benefitting someone other than myself. This small action has shown me that more GIVING will lead me on the path to happiness every day.
Within the reading of one of the books, I came across a passage that was aimed at thinking about the way we speak to our children. Do we expect them to know they have done wrong when we have not yet done our jobs of teaching them? Do we dismiss them as being "annoying" without realizing that they simply want us to put down the smart phone and play with them? Do we speak to them in tones that make them feel they have disappointed us? I was guilty of all three. My time with my son is now far more important to me. I still need to put down the damn phone........but I am working on it. I stop to explain why something is wrong instead of assuming that he knows already. I try to explain to him why he has to listen to his mother and I even when he wants to do whatever it is he thinks he needs to do. I hug that kid and tell him I love him so many times in a day that he will probably think I am crazy as he gets older. But that has become the most important thing I can do each and every day. That is priority #1. That is what makes me HAPPY. That is what makes me POSITIVE.
Now you may have read this and thought...what the heck is he rambling about? And the truth is, maybe it is all a bunch of gibberish to most of you. My hope is that at least one person reads it and thinks to themselves; "I know exactly what he is talking about." I hope that I can help someone else start to find more happiness and more positivity in their life. Have a good smile every once in a while. Share that smile with others and know that it may be the smile that they needed to turn their day around as well. Never underestimate how much your attitude can improve that of those around you.
Recommended Readings:
"The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy " by Jon Gordon
"How To Win Friends And Influence People" by Dale Carnegie
"StrengthsFinder 2.0" by Tom Rath
