Staying Positive
I was going to buy a book on positive-thinking and then I thought, 'What the hell good would that do?'
I believe that was Woody Allen's line, but it is one of my favorites. Years ago, I worked with a laborer named Cy. Each and every day we dug ditches, poured concrete, and cleared materials out of a building. We were both construction laborers. I was about twenty years old and Cy was in his mid-fifties. I actually enjoyed the job, and Cy hated every minute of it. Every morning, he would bitch and moan about his assignment and his rant lasted all morning, well into the afternoon, and as he walked out the front gate. One day, I bounced through the gate and said hello to Cy. I asked him how it was going and he proceeded to tell me that our boss had it in for him. "I have to dig a ditch from here to there." He was pointing well off into the distance. Very calmly, I answered Cy with a statement - "Cy, you're a laborer. What did you think they were going to ask you to do today? Balance the books?"
Cy stayed mad at me forever.
I'm not sure how it happens, but we choose our own moods. I've sort of tried to tell myself - each morning - to remain positive - no matter what happens. It doesn't always work (just ask my wife), and I don't always feeling like being my own cheerleader. Yet, I think back to a time when I stood in line at a grocery store - I had a miserable cold, and the kids had kept me up to an ungodly hour the night before. The line at the store was too long, and I just couldn't stand anything at all about the day. I groaned and the old lady in line turned to me. "I'm miserable," I said. She answered, "I'm eighty-three, I don't have time left to be miserable. I always try to be happy."
From that moment on, I've always tried to be happy. Like I've said, it doesn't always work, but I sort of bought that book on positive thinking - it's done some good.
I believe that was Woody Allen's line, but it is one of my favorites. Years ago, I worked with a laborer named Cy. Each and every day we dug ditches, poured concrete, and cleared materials out of a building. We were both construction laborers. I was about twenty years old and Cy was in his mid-fifties. I actually enjoyed the job, and Cy hated every minute of it. Every morning, he would bitch and moan about his assignment and his rant lasted all morning, well into the afternoon, and as he walked out the front gate. One day, I bounced through the gate and said hello to Cy. I asked him how it was going and he proceeded to tell me that our boss had it in for him. "I have to dig a ditch from here to there." He was pointing well off into the distance. Very calmly, I answered Cy with a statement - "Cy, you're a laborer. What did you think they were going to ask you to do today? Balance the books?"
Cy stayed mad at me forever.
I'm not sure how it happens, but we choose our own moods. I've sort of tried to tell myself - each morning - to remain positive - no matter what happens. It doesn't always work (just ask my wife), and I don't always feeling like being my own cheerleader. Yet, I think back to a time when I stood in line at a grocery store - I had a miserable cold, and the kids had kept me up to an ungodly hour the night before. The line at the store was too long, and I just couldn't stand anything at all about the day. I groaned and the old lady in line turned to me. "I'm miserable," I said. She answered, "I'm eighty-three, I don't have time left to be miserable. I always try to be happy."
From that moment on, I've always tried to be happy. Like I've said, it doesn't always work, but I sort of bought that book on positive thinking - it's done some good.
Comments