"Some people grumble that roses have thorns;
I am grateful that thorns have roses."
~ Alphonse Karr
Last week I attended Joe Polish's annual event. This event is part of his mastermind group that I am proud to be a part of. Now normally I speak at Joe's event -- but this year was different.
I went as an attendee. I went with full intent to learn, meet new people and see old friends. I knew by honoring myself, giving myself this gift in would come back to me ten-fold for my business, my health and my personal relationships.
And I was correct. This event was superb in every way!
- Mary Morrissey (in the ladies room no less)
I will share many of these conversations with you over the next few weeks.
However, I want to share something with you today that is so vitally important. It's important because it is something I believe that we encounter just about each and every day.
And quite frankly we don't know how to handle this situation. Often, we do not want to appear rude so we let others "steal our power."
Now this is not intentional on their part or ours, but nevertheless it happens all the time and it literally weakens our day.
So here is what happened . . .
I attended this incredible event in Arizona. I was feeling pretty good about myself. I was happy with my business momentum, and there were tons of take a ways that I was looking forward to testing and sharing with my team.
This was my thought process as I entered the car that was taking me to the airport - I was happy, energetic and grateful. Plus I was on my way home and looking forward to seeing my hubby and the kids. I was truly loving life!
Don't Let Them Knock You Down
But that could have all changed within minutes . . .
You see as soon as we were on the way, Jake, my driver, asked me where I was from. Of course I told him Boca Raton, Florida.
Well for the next few minutes I did not get a word in as Jake proceeded to tell me all about his ex-wife who happens to live in a neighboring town.
Without re-living that conversation, I will share that the pure hatred Jake felt for this woman was palpable. I was beyond uncomfortable; I felt sick to my stomach just listening to Jake.
So I had to think fast.
I could have let him go on and on about his ex-wife, or I could take control. And take control is exactly what I did. After all I just invested A LOT of time and money to be at this event, and I was not going to let Jake "steal my power." I was not going to start having negative thoughts and feel bad for the rest of the day.
So I politely interrupted him. I let him know I needed to put my headset on and check my phone messages, which I did. After listening to my messages, I put my favorite tunes on and let Bono remind me that it was indeed a "Beautiful Day."
I did this for the rest of the ride to the airport. When we arrived, I thanked Jake and got out of the car. But not just got out of the car, got out with my renewed feelings of happiness and gratitude.
Just When You Thought It Was Safe...
But now it was time to go through security. When I greeted the guard, I asked him how he was doing. Well, he proceeded to tell me his "wows."
Then I winked at him and said, "Come on. Something good must have happened to you today." He smiled and said, "You know, you are right -- lots of good things happened today!"
In this situation not only did I NOT let the security guard steal my power, I helped him have a nicer day by reminding him about all the good there is out there in the world.
Happiness Is a Choice
I share this with you for so many reasons.
The main one is to remind you that it can be easy to get caught up in negativity. But more importantly, you have the power to dismantle that negativity and live a life filled with positive energy.
Because here's the thing: both negative and positive energy are contagious.
You set the example. If you come to the office grumpy, then guess what? Your team members, co-workers, even vendors will react and sometimes emulate that. If you are negative at home, well your kids and spouse will follow suit.
However, if you are positive, thankful and gracious, that will spread like wildfire!
And here's the best thing, it is a fact that positive people live longer, are more successful and have more fun!
To get even more success tips from MaryEllen, grab her special report, The Success Indicator Acceleration Report at this link.