I Couldn’t Believe What I Heard! People Think That?!

I was completely blown away…

Just prior to Christmas I collected some hardware that had required servicing, and even though the week prior to Christmas was the worst possible time to have them serviced, not having them repaired would have meant my yard would not look great with the lawns not being tended to for nearly six weeks.

Anyway, I entered the workshop on December 23 to collect the items and apologised to the owner for adding to the inevitable workload afforded him by customers who “absolutely needed the work done prior to Christmas”. He simply smiled at me and handed me the invoice.

He was a nice enough fellow – as genial as required for the season – and after I had paid for the service, I said to him “Well sir, I hope you have a great Christmas and that 2015 is an even better year than this one”. Now, the fact I remember word for word what I said to him is not because I had it scripted and used this exact sentence many times, but simply because of his response. Without any pause or breath, he looked me in the eye and said, “2014 was the most s#&t year ever, and I know next year is going to be ten times worse”!

Now, those of you who know me personally know that I maintain a happy and optimistic outlook, and that I firmly believe in, and say what I want to create in my future. For me, there is no space for negativity or pessimism in my communication (internal or external) – but I was absolutely devastated that an individual could hold a belief like that so strong, that they have no issue with expressing it to someone they have known for all of two minutes!

I know people have down days, and some have horrible days, but this gentleman has a future that does not draw him to it in a positive way at all! He wakes every morning thinking “today’s going to suck – even worse than it did yesterday”.

Immediately following the comment – while I was in a complete state of shock – he helped me load the gear into my car, wished me a Merry Christmas and continued on with his life as though nothing had happened.

With all the training I provide showing people how the way we communicate with ourselves  effects our entire outlook and emotional state, it is a timely reminder that not everyone has learnt how to be gentle with themselves – to recognise what they can change, what they can’t and how to spend this very minute setting themselves up for the very best possible next minute.

How have you been treating yourself recently? Has your internal voice been focussed on achievement, moving forward and creating quality moments, or beating you up for a mistake, or a choice that was made long ago that has no chance of ever being altered by you or someone else?

There’s a saying that I am unable to trace the origin of – “We are what we focus on”. What are you focussing on? The negative of the past; or the potential of the future? We only have right now to make a difference, and the biggest difference that we can make is within us.

As you sit here reading this, make a commitment to yourself to take control of your own thoughts – they are yours and you can think whatever you wish. Why not make them amazing, sensational, AWESOME? Create thoughts of what you want and your brain will automatically start looking for ways to make it happen.

Wishing everyone an absolutely AWESOME new year, made up of moments positively created by you.

(Please feel free to leave a comment below on your thoughts – I’d love to hear them – and if there is anyone you think would benefit from this message, please feel free to ‘like’ and ‘share’ to help spread the word.)

Live Your Ultimate Life.