This morning I had to run some errands so my wife asked me if I could go get her a Starbucks hot mocha grande. I like doing things for her, but waiting in a long drive-through line at Starbucks is not one of my favorites. The Liberty location is typically backed up at least ten to fifteen cars when I arrive and I’m not a patient man when it comes to waiting in line.
Surprisingly though, this morning I drove all the way up to the speaker without anyone in front of me. As I pulled out of the parking lot with hot coffee in hand, the stoplight was green so I turned right onto 152 Highway to head home. Then a very strange thing happened. The next stoplight was green with no cars in front of me, and then the next one, and the next one, and the one after that. Believe it or not, I passed through all seven stoplights without even putting my foot on the brake one time!
As I’m whizzing through stoplight after stoplight, I found myself smiling. Eventually, after passing through the seventh one (it was just turning yellow at that point) I shouted out loud, “Yes! This is going to be a great day!” Immediately following that statement though, I caught myself thinking, “Why is this going to be a great day? Just because I was able to rocket through the Starbucks line and pass through seven green traffic lights?”
Why do we do that? We let some random thing in the universe decide what our mood will be like for the day. Don’t try to tell me this doesn’t happen to you. You wake up on Saturday morning to some idiot’s mowing his lawn at 7:30 AM. You spill some food on your shirt, try to wipe it off and it makes an even bigger stain. You’re trying to leave for work and the kids are screaming and fighting. We’ve all been there.
I understand that many people don’t roll out of bed in a good mood. I guess I’m lucky because I typically do wake up excited about what the day will bring, but I’ll let you in on a little secret—I don’t always feel fantastic the second I wake up. In those times though, as I’m getting into the shower, I say to myself, “It’s gonna be a great day!” Sometimes I’m just saying it without any real meaning, but most of the time, just making that statement out loud does make me smile.
A few weeks ago I came into the office and our client care manager Barbara was already there. She is typically very happy with a smile on her face, but this particular day she was staring at her computer screen and looked stressed. As I passed by her office I said, “Barbara, it’s going to be a great day!” fluctuated with a very cheesy tone in my voice. Barbara looked up at me and said, “If you say so, Ron.” I replied to her, “Well I do say so!” and a smile broke over Barbara’s face.
Attitude is everything! You never know who you’re going to meet today. We talk to a lot of people during our average day, so why not be the most cheerful person they’ve met all day? It will make a difference. It will make someone smile. Most importantly, it could make you smile and even better, cause you to have a great day!
Let’s all say it together, “It’s gonna be a great day!”