Thursday, June 4, 2009

Affirming the positive attitude

My lemonade award made me think about how I deal with things, sometimes.
It was great to receive it and know that yes, I am positive and grateful for my life. I have much to be thankful for and do not always honor it.
I have read the Secret. I know that it is good to be thankful for your life and retain a positive attitude.
At work, though, it is difficult to be positive. I am surrounded by many negative people, with some legitimate complaints, and others that feed off of it. To a point, that when I see them, I have nothing to say. I say, hello, but I don't want to hear about their negative day. I don't want to know why my boss sucks or why they are still angry about something that happened last week. These people, I want to limit my interactions with.
Today, I arrived at work, and immediately my boss goes out of her way to complain about a shelf that she felt was overlooked the night before. Since I closed, it was my job to make sure that all of the side work was finished. I will be honest. I wasn't too strict with my co-workers. We are all adults and should know how to maintain cleanliness. I felt she was being unreasonable, but I didn't react. Of course, my initial response was to tell someone about it. Actually, I wanted to tell her to go f*** herself, but instead, I remembered my lemonade award and how happy I was to receive it. I didn't want to spread negativity.
Next, the day shift was slow....molasses slow. I had 5 tables, which was 3 more than two of the other servers. There is no way to judge if we are going to be busy or slow. You just have to roll with it. I know this. My co-workers know this, but in order to pass the time, they bitch about everything...why do we have 4 servers on this shift?...blah, blah, blah. I walked away from their conversation since I had nothing to contribute. I felt better, too.
I read on the World n Me blog that Jun used to be angry a lot, but then he realized to let it go and meditate. I haven't incorporated this into my daily practice yet, but what exactly does anger accomplish? Control, yes, but limited, since people do not respect this tactic, they fight against it.
I am still reflecting on my work interactions. I do not understand why people obsess about things that mean nothing. If you see something on the floor, pick it up. Don't wait for someone else to do it or complain about it to someone. Take action, be accountable, and yes, be positive. Life is much easier or more pleasant when people are positive, as opposed to drenched with negativity.

3 comments:

scarlethue said...

I agree with you. I found that forcing myself to be positive and not complain (too often, we all have to sometimes :) ) has led me into a happier and more successful life.

Jun said...

Dear Harmony, thanks for mentioning me in your site. And I have to congratulate you for being positive. It is difficult sometimes but it is worth the effort not only for our well-being but also for the work environment. What if everybody is negative? It would be a perfect hell I imagine.

harmony said...

Too true---about having to be sometimes. I notice that I feel lighter when I am positive though.
Of course, I enjoy both of your sites and how they make me feel. I probably will reference you more often:)
Be well--