I am often asked if I ever have bad days. Well, let me tell you about my humanness.
I have bad days.
They come whenever they want, and they leave when they are finished wreaking havoc. I can’t always predict them, but I know when they appear in front of me.
The truth is, they aren’t really bad days, they are just bad circumstances.
I know that for sure because the choices I made last week reminded me how much we actually have control over.
I woke up to an email Monday morning that was a cancellation of a trip to work with a client I had planned for that next weekend. Happens to be one of my favorite groups to work with, so of course I was disappointed. But…things happen, things have to be rescheduled, and if you are not flexible in running a business, then you can quickly be out of one.
I searched my calendar for new dates and emailed him back happily, hoping to find another time to go out and work with them. The next call was to the hotel to cancel my reservation for the weekend.
Not the end of the world. Unless I saw it that way…
Then, another circumstance beyond my control popped up, more frustration than anything. Just needed to exercise patience and move forward.
The way I saw it, it wasn’t the end of the world… just a hurdle that was jumpable.
And another… and another.
And the day could have pretty much turned into “one of those days”… You know, a “BAD DAY.”
But there was a moment that I realized I had all the power over how I was going to see things.
And Monday was just a hurdle in my week.
I could jump the hurdles and keep running. Or I could stand in front of the hurdle and wonder why it was there, looking longingly into the distance and the finish line that seemed so far away.
I went to bed Monday night feeling nothing more than tired. I figured I would just start again on Tuesday.
I woke up Tuesday and had a busy day. Phone calls and meetings, some clients, some to plan for the future.
Because when you run a business, there is always that… Building for the future.
Where am I speaking next, with whom, and for what?
And I could have gone into Tuesday tired and feeling let down from Monday’s happenings, or I could see Tuesday as the new day that it was and start again.
I chose the latter.
Had my first client call, then another call with the president of a company that manages speakers. Then off to my meeting with an intern to help promote my messages to local colleges. All good stuff.
On my way home from that meeting to make my last two client calls, I stopped at Wawa to grab something quick to eat.
In front of me at the register were two boys, no older than 8 & 10. They were buying something from the deli and a couple of doughnuts.
The cashier rang them up and asked them for the $8.
The older boy counted out five one-dollar bills and 4 quarters. The cashier took what they were handing him and started to count.
“Five, six… you only have six dollars here.”
The older boy looked at the younger one in a panic, hoping he would magically come up with two more dollars. They stared at each other for a second.
I knew I was there in that moment for a reason.
I quickly handed the cashier the ten-dollar bill that was in my hand and told him to take it out of that.
I pushed the coins and dollars back to the older boy and told him to take it.
They looked at me surprised, and told me to please take the money.
I refused.
I told them today was on me.
They thanked me again a few times and left.
It was my turn to pay. The cashier looked at me and said, “That was very nice of you.”
I looked him in the eyes and replied, “I’m just doing my part…or at least that’s the way I see it.”
And just like that, Tuesday was a new day because I woke up choosing it to be.
Regardless of what was going to or not going to happen… I had a choice in how I reacted.
And I was thankful for being given those opportunities.
Or maybe that’s just the way I see it.
