Thoughts on the Run

While it’s early in the day, based on my fortune teller prediction skills, I don’t see a run or workout in the schedule today. I could just blow everything else off, ignore the kids, and go for a run. Unfortunately (fortunately for some) I don’t have the personality to do that.

This led me to think about a discussion I had yesterday with someone about things that suck our energy. I can be at the office all day and roll into the afternoon excited about going home to get in a night run. All is good when I walk out the door and get in the car. Then the things I can’t control start to take action. Traffic. With no traffic, I’m home in 45 minutes. Normal traffic I’m closer to 1 hour. The days I’m glad I have satellite radio is when the drive (more like slow roll) is an hour and a half. Even then, my mind wanders about what I could or should be doing. Negativity alert!

Then I arrive home and am greeted with excitement of my 4 children. I love their energy and wish I could bottle it up to use! My challenge is that I just sat in a quiet car for over an hour so going from that to Disney rock concert can be a jolt to the system. That shock to the system starts to deplete the energy tank.

I’ve learned to handle all of this through changing my expectations. I expect traffic to be bad and I expect to come home to wound up kids. If either of those don’t occur, then that’s more positive juice poured into the tank. Running still looks good!

All of this good prep can be derailed though. We all know the people in our lives that are constant complainers. They get worked up about … everything. It’s all a crisis and the world must stop and listen to them. It may not even be someone you work with, but your desk is close enough to hear their comments each time they hang up the phone. For many, they have the “world is out to get me” attitude. There’s a good chance that they don’t they have this attitude as it may have always been accepted, it’s what they saw growing up, or are really insecure.

There was a time when I used to try and fix people like this. It became my project to figure them out. The world does have much bad in it, but can have just as much good depending on how you look at it. I wanted to get to the root of the negativity. While it was a great learning experience about psychology, it was an energy drainer. I realized that I needed to start changing the way I looked at the world as well as focus on what I could control. If someone doesn’t see a need to change, getting them to make adjustments will be like moving a mountain. I’ve decided since then to focus on those that want to change and surround myself with more positive energy.

The challenge is that you can’t always control who you have around you. Now that you know that, you can adjust expectations and setup strategies to have less interaction with them. I have notes I leave on my desk that remind me to smile. Just that simple act can lift my mood. Find a YouTube video that makes you laugh. Or find a book of kid jokes. Here’s one for you:

Why did Tigger look in the toilet? He was looking for Pooh!

Laugh more, complain less, and cherish the time you have.

You may be going through a rough moment, but the great (and bad) thing about time is that it keeps moving forward.