Pass It On...

I had to go to New York on Wednesday.  I got up at 5:30.

Ok, I was SUPPOSED to get up at 5:30 but I snoozed until 6 - which was a mistake.

I jumped into the shower, jumped out, got dressed, forgot to put on my eyeshadow and then tiptoed into the kids rooms to say goodbye.

I jumped into my car and hit the highway.

And then it hit me back.

Apparently at 6:45am the highways in Massachusetts slow to a crawl.  That's okay though, my train wasn't until 7:30.

At 7:15 I was still crawling along and the new turn-by-turn navigation feature on my iphone was telling me I would DEFINITELY be at the train station by 7:45 - which was CLEARLY not going to work.

I called Delta from my car and made a reservation on the 9am shuttle.  I made it with plenty of time to spare, got a front row parking spot and got upgraded to first class.

I landed at Laguardia, walked out to a line of cabs a mile long waiting to take me to Manhattan and arrived at 11am for my noon lunch.

I popped into Duane Reade (think Walgreen's) but with a Macy's makeup counter and the lovely Michelle offered to do my colors and touch up my bare eyes.

We hung out for a half hour and she helped me find some great colors and gave me a bunch of trial sized samples.  I bought a bunch of stuff and headed over to the restaurant.  

Lunch was fabulous and my meeting with my customer was comfortable and easy - where sometimes it can feel a little forced.

I walked him back to his office but we stopped to get coffee and I bought cookies for my next meeting.

When I said goodbye to him I turned to walk down the street and bumped right into another client I was hoping to talk to.  We had a FANTASTIC curbside conversation and he told me some things that I'd been hoping to hear for several months.

I walked away from him happy as could be.

I walked back to my office and bumped into a coworker I hadn't seen a while.  We made plans to meet for lunch next week.  I had to run to my next appointment.

As I walked there it sprinkled but didn't rain.  I got there right on time and had a great meeting.

When I left I walked over to the Marriott Times Square and got in the taxi line.  There were two bellhops there but I wasn't sure how they'd react.  Sometimes they can be difficult about getting cabs for people who are not guests of the hotel but I put on a smile and said, "HI!  How are you? Are you having a good day?" and the first bellhop said, "I don't know. I just started."

So I said to him, "Well I am having a GREAT day, so here, shake my hand and maybe some of my karma will rub off on you."  I stuck out my hand so that he could shake it.

He FROZE and looked at me and said, "Now THAT is something that most people don't know!"

And the other bellhop said, "AMEN."

And the first bellhop went on, "If you share it, you get back EVEN more, but most people, they keep it close to them and they waste it."

 Y'all it is HARD to get a cab to JFK at 4pm in NYC but those guys, they found me one.  And I shook both their hands and told them that I hoped they had a great night.  And I gave them a great tip.

The cab driver took the Van Wyck - which can be a nightmare - but we flew.  

I got home in time to tuck my kids into bed and then caught up on all the work I'd missed traipsing around NYC.

It was a GREAT day.  But you know what? I could have focused on the bad parts - getting up late, traffic, missing my train, forgetting my makeup, getting rained on, etc.  I could have been rude to the bellhops and had them be rude to me.

It's a choice.  You can choose to focus on the bad things, you can choose to focus on the positive things and you can share EITHER of those things with others.

How do you want to feel?  And who do you want to be?

 

Comments

[Bratfink]

You are certainly a very nice lady!

[ColdBlooded]

Love this. Positive energy creates positive results!

[Lisa @ Floating Along...]

Awesome! I couldn't agree more. Life is much more enjoyable when you focus on the good and create happiness!

[Rebecca]

Amen, Sistah...Amen.

[Jess]

Needed to read this today...thanks :)

[Lady R]

Great post... AND great reminder! Thank you for passing it on.

Pay it forward... also a great concept!

[Ken]

What a wonderful post...I know I am going to have a GREAT weekend!! Hope you do to!!

[Kana]

I am going to keep coming here for the blog equivalent of a lucky handshake - I love your positivity, and hope to roll around here until I acquire some! :D

[Sandy]

Great reminder for us all!

[Lisa]

Great day! Love it. Half full, half empty, choose to be nice just because you are, cannot adjut the wind but can adjust the sail. Have a super Saturday.

[April]

I will remember this next time I am out having a great day!

[Fiona (@nlpmum)]

Fab post and what a wise bellhop!