I’ve been working on my PMA lately. That would be “positive mental attitude” . (In case you were wondering, although PMA sounds like PMS, they are really two very different things and are related only in their timing – one being impossible to achieve whilst experiencing the other.)
I’ve been reflecting some on how my perspective on any given situation can completely transform said situation into something positive. Some examples:
Negative: “shit, my wine glass is half empty.”
Positive: “cool, I have a half a glass of wine!”
Negative: “shit, it’s raining in my studio.”
Positive: “cool, I needed to wash the floor in my studio. Grab me a rag!”
Negative: “shit. Q had diarrhea in the backseat of the car.”
Positive: “cool. What a great excuse for you to clean the car, David Honey!”
The other morning when I got up on the wrong side of the bed, after surviving a wrestling match between the dogs on the bed which woke me prematurely and I found 17 dog pees and poops on my way to the kitchen, I felt I was being given a pop quiz - the PMA mid-term.
Am I really able to convince myself of some polly-anna crap like this?:
“oh cool, now that I am up at the crack of dawn when I really wanted to sleep in I can watch the sunrise. How fortunate that the dogs woke me by jumping on my head!”
Or
“What an opportunity to wash all the floors first thing in the morning, before I am even able to have my coffee. Cool, then I won’t have to do them later. Great! How lucky I am.”
Nope. I tried it but then a string of four letter (and a couple 7 letter) words started flying out of my mouth. Welcome back, my old pal Cynicism. Just as I was ready to give myself a big ol’ F on the PMA exam, having convinced myself (with very little effort, by the way) that the day was a write-off, Ruff tossed one of his lemons to me.
No, the dog is not some kind of Obe Wan or Mr. Miyagi (aka: Karate Kid coach) offering life lessons through metaphor and symbolism. He doesn’t like to play with balls but can retrieve a lemon with the best of 'em. He was not trying to suggest that I think about lemons and lemonade. He was telling me that it was time to go out and play. All the same, I got the message.
I’ve been reflecting some on how my perspective on any given situation can completely transform said situation into something positive. Some examples:
Negative: “shit, my wine glass is half empty.”
Positive: “cool, I have a half a glass of wine!”
Negative: “shit, it’s raining in my studio.”
Positive: “cool, I needed to wash the floor in my studio. Grab me a rag!”
Negative: “shit. Q had diarrhea in the backseat of the car.”
Positive: “cool. What a great excuse for you to clean the car, David Honey!”
The other morning when I got up on the wrong side of the bed, after surviving a wrestling match between the dogs on the bed which woke me prematurely and I found 17 dog pees and poops on my way to the kitchen, I felt I was being given a pop quiz - the PMA mid-term.
Am I really able to convince myself of some polly-anna crap like this?:
“oh cool, now that I am up at the crack of dawn when I really wanted to sleep in I can watch the sunrise. How fortunate that the dogs woke me by jumping on my head!”
Or
“What an opportunity to wash all the floors first thing in the morning, before I am even able to have my coffee. Cool, then I won’t have to do them later. Great! How lucky I am.”
Nope. I tried it but then a string of four letter (and a couple 7 letter) words started flying out of my mouth. Welcome back, my old pal Cynicism. Just as I was ready to give myself a big ol’ F on the PMA exam, having convinced myself (with very little effort, by the way) that the day was a write-off, Ruff tossed one of his lemons to me.
No, the dog is not some kind of Obe Wan or Mr. Miyagi (aka: Karate Kid coach) offering life lessons through metaphor and symbolism. He doesn’t like to play with balls but can retrieve a lemon with the best of 'em. He was not trying to suggest that I think about lemons and lemonade. He was telling me that it was time to go out and play. All the same, I got the message.
So I guess what I'm saying here is when the dog tosses you a lemon, go out and play catch.
No comments:
Post a Comment