Yeah it’s that easy! One thought? What about the hundreds of random mind mumblings that follow it?
A day that challenged positivity
Anyone can leap out of bed yelling ‘today is going to be a good day!’ Then you come up against a ridiculous traffic jam, as I did today, caused by a person too scared to take their car through a gap which blocked the road both ways!
A man got out of his car and gently encouraged the driver, which was a lovely thing to do and faith in human nature was restored . Then thirty more cars followed, with all the drivers ostentatiously not looking at the many cars our side who couldn’t move. Faith in human nature had another wobble, enhanced by mutterings of how disconnected we humans are from the needs of others nowadays.
When we finally moved, because one lovely gentleman had stopped to let us through, faith in humanity was re-restored, and off we went with a smile on our faces. Until we got to our next destination, the town centre car park.
Firstly, they charge £something-and-50p per hour. The machines don’t take 50 pence pieces. That is of course an outrage. Then the machine that takes coins was out of order. Positive thinking hat on! There is still the card machine.
We felt we were doing better finding that positive aspect. Except that the machine was refusing all transactions. Not just us but the gentleman behind us. He was another bright light as he tried to help us with a kind smile and without rolling his eyes.
So we had to call a parking place, only they wanted you to set up an account over the phone and I’m not doing that in a public place where I could be overheard, or over public WiFi. So we drove away. Our faith in machinery well and truly took a hit.
We went to Marks and Spencer down the road at a shopping park (free parking) to have a bite of lunch. We were both a bit strung out and the only way to order was via a screen. We asked if they did gluten free before approaching another piece of technological machinery, such was our lack of faith. They insisted on sending someone to help us to ensure we got the right thing.
Things were looking up! And boy were they!
The lady took our order, and showed us how to make sure I got GF food. We thanked her for her help as we were technologically traumatised. She looked at us and gave us two complimentary drinks. That kindness would have reduced us both to tears had we not been rough tough females of a certain age, who would not cry in public! It would wreck our street cred.
We enjoyed our lunch, and she came back over, she commented that we were looking much more relaxed, told us to take all the time we needed, and came back with two more drinks. She has absolutely guaranteed that we will always go there whenever we’re nearby. Superb customer service.
Then we went to Curry’s to check out some technology. Still a little raw and shaken. The total lack of bodies in the shop floor nearly had us leaving in another human nature deficit huff, when a lovely man returned to the shop floor, saw us, came over, told me that there was something better to boost the WiFi in our house. Then asked us to wait a moment.
He came back and said that he’d checked on line, and it was £30 cheaper, the checkouts should have that information but to make sure I got the discount.
Human nature faith restored once again.
Okay, apparently manning the checkouts wasn’t necessary, which did take us back down the road of muttering about what they call service, and would we be arrested if we just left with our product? After all we were quite willing to pay.
Positivity Only?
Today was a mixture of irritations and Angels. Two definite extremes. At no time did we overreact. No one was threatened with bodily harm. But we were irritated and that was a reasonable reaction.
I understood not being confident about the width of your car, I don’t have strong spatial awareness. That showed up when I had my IQ tested for fun. Even so holding up a stream of traffic by not trying, not taking it slowly, did rankle and understandably so.
It was also reasonable to be irritated that two parking machines were not working properly. It’s not right that there is no one at a checkout in a shop.
People may throw that in the basket of negative thinking, but it doesn’t belong there. It’s a valid reaction to events that happened.
Negative thinking is an expectation that things won’t go well with no evidence to support that other than your mindset.
Positive thinking is a good idea obviously, but is realistic thinking more…realistic? The answer would be yes as long as you’re being realistic.
Being pretend positive doesn’t work, only what’s real counts. People can feel guilty for not being a positivity prince(es), but that’s just an idea. Not a reality.
Balanced reality
Ultimately balance is the ideal. We have different experiences that have appropriate reactions. Pretending to different reactions isn’t healthy.
As long as ultimately your focus is on the positive and you dwell on the good things that happen as much as you can. You’ll be doing well and focusing in the right direction.
So today was a day where some irritations were far outweighed by the actions of two amazing people and the company of my sister, and those are the things I will remember and build on.
Deb. X
Deb Hawken - Amorah 