Meet the Neighbors: Positivity & Hopeful

Positivity

My father used to have a picture of a Basset Hound (the saddest looking dog in the world) hanging in his office with the caption “Act enthusiastic and you’ll be enthusiastic.” Dad was the consummate positive thinker and I have benefited greatly from his example.

Acting positively isn’t a game or a trick. It really works. While I am not suggesting that you discount reality, I am suggesting that when we approach life with a positive attitude things generally work out better. Be a “glass is half full” kind or person and be a positive force to those around you. 

Hopeful 

• Hopeful is positivity’s next door neighbor. Hopeful says:It is going to be a good day. 

• Things are going to go well at today’s board meeting.

• I will have the wisdom to know how to act if something goes wrong.

• What may break can be fixed.

• Even though I didn’t sleep, well I will have the energy I need for the day.

Hope looks forward to a good outcome, hopefully.

Press On and On and On

Perseverance

What are your core principles? One of mine is to never give up. I am grateful that perseverance is somehow resident deep in my soul. Winston Churchill had it too. Remember the famous line in his speech where he said “never, never, never give up”?

When we, like Churchill, are experiencing overwhelming attack or bad odds we must keep our face square into the wind and press on. Showing persistence will also encourage those who look to us. Seeing our example, they are likely to mimic our perseverance and display this character quality to those they interact with. 

Newt Gingrich defines it this way. "Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did."

To Tell the Truth

I remember the first time I experienced injustice. It was when the grumpy old man at the end of my boyhood street accused me of throwing a rock at his house. It seems that a few of the neighbor kids has committed the heinous act and conspired to blame it on me. When he accused me I felt indignation such as I had never experienced. I had received injustice!

 Superman was known for his mantra “truth, justice and the American way.” Let’s be “super people” and known as a lovers of truth and justice and let’s demonstrate that to those near us. We also should be known as people who give others the benefit of the doubt because sometimes we don’t know or can’t get all the facts. 

"Get the facts first, then you can distort them all you like." Mark Twain

Finding Peace and Letting Go

Peace 

Rudy Giuliani in his book “Leadership” describes how he had to stay calm in the face of fear on September 11, 2001.  Because others were watching him and gauging their emotions on what they saw in him, his projecting peace was critical to thousands of other New Yorkers.

While we may not have as large an audience, our visible irritability does affect those in our corner of the marketplace and every place.  Every day we face numerous opportunities to loose our peace.  When we do, for the sake of others, it is critical that we adopt a poker face and avoid dumping our problem on others like a cooler filled with Gatorade.  There really is peace in learning to control our emotions, dealing with what we can deal with and forgetting the rest. 

Letting Go

Think about the most unpleasant relationship you have ever had.  Maybe it was a coworker, former spouse, or a rebellious child.  Did you ever catch yourself keeping a mental count of all the times they had hurt or disappointed you?  I have found that there is great virtue in not counting but instead letting go.

Think about it.  What besides an ulcer do you gain from keeping track of all that bad stuff?  Maybe a migraine headache?  Most bad things others do to us, from something stupid to something deliberate and calculated, are best handled when we let go.
 

Moderation in Conversation

Have you ever had lunch with someone you want to get to know and they spend the whole meal talking about themselves and their accomplishments?

If you are like me, you wanted to learn about their life but you wanted them to learn about yours too. Boasting, bragging or monopolizing in conversation is a relationship killer.

A good test as to whether there is moderation in your conversation is to look to see who has eaten the most food. If your plate is much fuller then your guests, then you are talking too much and asking too few questions.

In the words of John Wayne, "Talk low, talk slow and don't say too much."