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“Having a positive mental attitude is asking how
something can be done rather than saying it can’t be done.” Bo Bennett
“That won’t ever work,” I say in my uncannily 17-year-old, too cool for school, voice that seems to emerge when confronted
with a new idea I can’t see working.
Then I will list every reason I can think of that it won’t
work; some valid, some, not so much.
It happens quite often, in many situations. At work, at home,
with authority figures, with people of my own ilk....
I can remember several times when new routines and methods
were presented at work. I would fight them with all of my being because I can’t
stand change. I am quite comfortable in my own routines.
“Uh HUH,” I say “knowingly” when they
appear to encounter hitches, or maybe it doesn’t work out the way they had
originally planned. Then I feel superior because I was right.
But is this negativity a merely a protection for myself?
So I can justify not doing it? We are designed to fight threats, no matter
what the size. It’s easy to have the “right” opinions on just about everything,
safe in our protective bubbles. Unless my very life is being threatened, I’ve
found I need to open my mind a little. I can guarantee that very seldom is my
life in danger, least of all by an idea. So that means I need to open my mind a
lot to new ways and methods of doing things.
It has even been proven
that new routines are good for the brain, making us smarter. Who doesn’t want that, right?
My fears are more vague than concrete. But what if I get slowed down and everything backs up while I’m
recovering from this mess? What if I am criticized for causing it all to
happen? Instead of using those fears as deterrents, just notice them and
keep moving. I’ll deal with them when or if they come up.
I have found that nothing can be negative unless I react to
it as such. Believe me I have incredible power. I have turned many good things
into really, really negative things. Likewise the way I have reacted to many
bad things have actually turned out to be really good. I just tend to forget
this a lot.
Instead of spending my energy griping about things, I will
try to use it to find solutions....and to remember everything gets better with
practice, and a fair chance.
