Be Positive Day 27 | Say This Not That

A new way of thinking requires a new way of speaking, doesn’t it? It should. So here is a list of things I’m saying instead of what I would’ve said before. (Does that make sense at all?)

• 6:45 a.m. Jason asks, “How’d you sleep?” Before these 30 Days (and always before coffee) I would’ve said, “Hrummmumph.” I’m realizing this isn’t the best way to greet the morning or my husband. So now I say something more like, “I slept really well. Thanks. How about you?” Simple change, right? But it means I’m positive and interacting in a positive way. And you know what? We have good conversations in the morning while coffee is steeping and shoes are getting tied.
• Julia gets stuck on “Mama. Mama. Mama. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mama. Mama. Mom. Mommy. Mama. Mama. Mama.” Before I would’ve snapped. “What! What! Oh! My! What!” Now, I start with a deep breath. (Sometimes two deep breaths.) “Yes, Julia.” And when she get’s really stuck and doesn’t hear me, I try to reach out and touch her, rub her back, take her hand, stroke her cheek. The physicality seems to snap her out of her mode. “I love you, Mommy,” is her most recent response. How can that be a bad thing?
• A friend calls to chat and ends up venting about problems she’s having trying to sell her house, with their realtor, the work that goes into prepping the house for showing. And my first reaction is to tell her about my problems too, compare and contrast our struggles, bond in our misery. But I stop, and I listen. This is important. I listen to her, and try to be there for her. (This isn’t so much something I say, as much as something I don’t say, but that is almost more important.)
• At the grocery store, I’m asked, “Paper or plastic?” Before I would’ve answered as I unloaded my cart onto the conveyer belt. Now, I stop, turn, and meet the bagger’s eyes. “Plastic, please.” And when he offers to help me load my car, I say, “No thank you. I’ve got it, and I’m going to enjoy the weather and the exercise.” He’s trying to help, the least I can do is be grateful for his offers and treat him with the respect I’d want to be treated with.

Do you see the differences? They’re slight, sure, but I feel as if they make a big, outward difference. How do you express your positive frame of mind externally?

I like this Life Pulp Inspiration because of it’s poetry. Thanks to Effendy Karto for sharing it.

“A leaf which falls from the tree is at the mercy of the wind, it goes wherever the wind takes it. Be the wind to drive others, not the leaf to be driven by others.” -Justice Cabral