Choosing My Attitude

I'm going to admit as I start this entry, I have a selfish motivation behind it. I'm having a crappy morning. A REALLY crappy morning. My Prince Charming was less than charming this morning (although he'd probably say the same about me), we missed the school bus, I had to take the kids out in the rain to drop Elliot off at school, Nolan fell in a giant puddle...ugh! It has been one thing after another. Anyway, I'm hoping by the time I'm done typing this, I'll find a little peace and perspective.

Perspective. I think it is something we all need to look for from time to time. I don't mean we shouldn't get to have bad days or vent about our kid having a cough. We shouldn't DWELL on it though. So I had a bad morning. Too bad, Sara-Summer. GET OVER IT! There is still plenty of time for me to turn this day around.

We all get to make choices about how we are going to look at things and what we are going to do about those bumps in our day that can send us into a tailspin if we let them. I worked at Build-a-Bear on and off for a few years. While I was there we practiced something called the FISH! Philosophy. It is meant for the workplace, but I wonder how we could improve our roles as spouses and parents and even our own moods if we embraced it in everything we do.

The first of the four principles is Be There. This means being emotionally available for the people in your life. Think about how much we could show people we care and respect them by really listening and being there. Play is the idea of being creative in everything you do to really enjoy life and help those around you enjoy it! Make Their Day is about taking the time to do something extra for somebody, not for a reward or something in return, but just for the sake of showing them they matter. Finally, Choose Your Attitude. This is a good one for me right now. I'm going to cut and paste right from the website for this, "Choose Your Attitude means taking responsibility for how you respond to what life throws at you. Once you are aware that your choice impacts everyone around you, you can ask yourself, 'Is my attitude helping my team or my customers? Is it helping me to be the person I want to be?'"

As I go on with my day, I'm going to try to embrace the FISH! Philosophy. I think if we all tried to live like this the world (and my household) would be a much happier place.