Diane DeMasi
Image by Yves Bernardi from Pixabay

Obstacles and Attitude – Day 26

Posted on by Diane DeMasi

28-Day Personal Challenge

Today, I’m talking about obstacles and attitude and how much those two things can break my day or make it better.

Obstacles and Attitude when I’m Under Stress

We all get stressed, we all have off days, and it’s during these times that looking on the bright-side makes us want to slap the person who tells us to do that. We are hyperfocused on all that has gone wrong and we can’t see beyond that stress.

I’ve had these days in the past, I’m sure I’ll have more of them. However, I hope that I can remember the days like today and how vastly different the day can be.

Here’s an example of when I’m stressed.

Let’s say I planned on leaving the house by 9:00 for my morning walk. For whatever reason, maybe I went to bed too late, maybe my husband was snoring, maybe my cat was snoring, whatever the reason, I didn’t get enough sleep. Instead of getting up at 6:00, I get up at 7:30. That throws off my morning routine which throws off whether I exercise or not.

Now, I know if I exercise I will feel better and my day will be better, but I’m frustrated that things didn’t go as planned and I will have to change my planned workout if I still feel up to working out. When I let stress reign, I usually skip the workout.

I feel crabby because I didn’t get the workout. And when I head out, I hit every red light and traffic seems worse. My anger brews. I get to an account and they can’t locate a box, which means I’m will be running late and by the fourth account, there’s no way I’m going to make it to the fifth before they close. I’m angry, I have to replan on when I can get back to the fifth account. I skip lunch in an attempt to make up the time difference. It doesn’t work.

Then I tick off all I need to do once I get back home. But rush hour traffic slows me down.

The Problem

The problem is, nothing is really that bad. I perceive it worse than it actually is. Once I fall into the black hole, it’s hard to climb out.

Obstacles and Attitude – On a Good Day

Today, was a day of obstacles.

I woke up late, because when I first woke up I was sore and the bed seemed more comfortable so I allowed myself a little more rest. I rested longer than I wanted.

Then my morning was off, way off. I didn’t want to exercise or even drive up to the trail I had planned to visit. I felt good, I encouraged myself, just do it. Just one lap.

When I tried to set the alarm it wouldn’t set. The alarm was updating its firmware. It took seventeen minutes for the alarm to finish the update. Then the alarm wouldn’t work. I couldn’t give up any more time, or I wouldn’t make it to my mother-in-law’s in time for her appointment.

I bagged the alarm and headed out. Right into road construction. Three times on my way to the trail. I chose to enjoy the radio and waved to all the flaggers, as I passed by (when it was safe, I didn’t blow by their stop signs).

One lap later, I was back on the road and heading to my MIL’s. Snagged her took her to her appointment only to find out there was a mistake and they had to reschedule. After a trip to the store and traffic, I didn’t have time to hit the one account I planned on.

Yet, I was still happy

My attitude made all the obstacles less painful. I hit road construction three times on the way to my hike, three times on the way back from my hike, twice on the way to my MIL’s, and twice on the way home from my MIL’s.

Each time I saw an orange sign I felt a poke of annoyance. Then I turned up the music. And I didn’t have to wait long before I was given the go-ahead. If I hadn’t tuned into the music, I would have stewed about sitting there. And the few seconds I waited would have felt like minutes.

The appointment issue could have been a pain, but my MIL needed to go to the store and I told her I didn’t have time as we drove to the appointment. Appointment cancellation gave me time to take her to the store.

Traffic was built quicker and I didn’t have time to make it to my account since I had to have the car back home by 5:00 for my husband. So I bagged the account and will pop in next week after taking my MIL to her appointment.

In Short

Everything still worked out. A little attitude adjustment made it a whole lot better.

When have you experienced a moment calm over a change of attitude?

Previous 28-Day Personal Challenge Posts