What Will You Choose?

"Be happy, or be stupid." -don Miguel Ruiz

We can’t always control what happens in life but we can control the way we react to it.

We can choose to live life to the fullest and do our best with the hand we’re dealt. Just choosing to be grateful, appreciative and happy will return joy to our lives, at work and at home.

My friend Mike was recently telling me about his first week at his new job. He had previously worked in a pretty physical job, as a mechanic, but now had switched careers to road construction. Mike’s plan was to move up the ladder and become supervisor, but he wanted to start where everyone else did, on the road, laying pavement.

Mike admitted he was pretty sore and honestly thinking wow, this is really hard stuff. He noticed an older man, who looked to be in his 60’s, plugging away, with energy like the bunny on the battery commercials.

Mike eventually worked his way over to strike up a conversation with the man because he was so curious how this guy did it. He complimented him in that tough guy construction sort of way “Hey man, you’ve gotta be pushing 60 or so, how do you have so much energy? I mean really, why are you still here, still working?”

The man’s reply was shocking. He said, “actually, I’m 82, and I can’t wait to come to work every day. I love it. It keeps me young and alive!”

Mike and his new co-worker talked more and more, he discovered that this guy really knew what he wanted out of life, and he had built his life around that. He was genuinely positive and didn’t dwell on all the negatives. He chose happiness.

Of course we are not all naturally like this. And the construction worker may not have always been that way either. In fact, in my experience, a lot of people need help with choosing a positive attitude. And to do this at work can sometimes be even more challenging.

A lot of people suffer through each day, counting down the minutes, wishing and waiting their weekdays away for the weekend, for vacation, for anything other than the time they are spending at work. That is pretty crappy when you consider how much time you spend at work, and therefore how much time you are choosing to be negative.

What if we think about it differently? If we make some different choices, we can become as positive as the 82 year-old energizer bunny.

So how can you start choosing happy today? Think of 1-2 things you can do now to make your life more positive!