By Alaina M.
My husband and I recently vacationed at Lake Tahoe and on our journey we encountered a number of irritating airport experiences – storms, delayed flights (due to the President might I add), our luggage was headed to the EAST coast while we were on the west coast… so you could imagine the mood we were in once we arrived and realized our luggage was no where to be found.
If you haven’t flown lately it is amazing how many travelers have the same scowl on their faces (as we did when we heard our luggage was lost) rushing from one place to another typically on some electronic device or yelling at their kids. As we waited to hear about our luggage I ran off to use the restroom… there was a woman custodian inside frantically making her way from one stall to the other as the line increased and people grew impatient. With a smile on her face she welcomed each person as she finished her duties and made sure to genuinely tell everyone that left to have a great day. I generously returned the favor and went about my way.
Another woman who had been washing her hands beside me stopped me just outside of the restroom to ask if that lady indeed looked us in the eye, smiled and told us to have a great day… I replied yes ma’am. The woman looked confused and asked if I was from Nevada and if that was normal. I told her I was from Kansas and that it was typical for someone to smile at you, wait to hold the door open and yes, to have a great day. She was astonished – she was from the East Coast… yes, where our luggage was headed
and this was a new concept for her. Her smile went from ear to ear as she said, “Wow… that really just made my day. Thank you and I hope you have a great day too.”Yes, I walked away with a warm heart and a smile on my face too. I rephrased the normal saying, ‘sticks and stones may brake my bones but words will never be forgotten’ …. making a difference with just four simple words.
A week later I was on my way to work and heard an interesting study about self dialog… I am constantly doing this! A professor studied a large group of individuals and their self dialog over a period of time concluding approximately 1200 words or ‘thoughts’ rather, going through our heads every minute. Do you find yourself lost in thought – praying, planning, thinking, wishing, problem solving, complaining.. hmm-self improvement (working out, eating, etc.)? The study also concluded that out of those 1200 words per minute… only 100 were positive.
Surely this isn’t right… there is no way that we can only have roughly 8% of our thoughts be positive! So I thought I would put the study to test on myself and started truly pay attention to my self dialog – WOW! I had more than 8% but I was constantly thinking of what I had to do next, frustrated because I had missed a workout, or irritated when someone cut me off in traffic. Have you ever been around someone who is constantly negative?? This makes you realize how life-sucking negativity truly is, and if we are being this way in our own thoughts it is no wonder we are cranky and exhausted… this was so eye opening to me and again it came back to one thing I had faced the week prior… the power of positive and encouraging words.
We often think we can’t make a difference unless you are wealthy, a leader of some sort, successful, have lots of time, or must be a hero… but how untrue. We have all had days too where we were down and out and a person came long and held that door for us when we had groceries, called just to say hi, had that stranger wave at us like we have been best friends forever, or someone give us a compliment and warmed our hearts… the small stuff.
I hope this will inspire you all to rethink the power of words, encouraging you all to start focusing how you treat not only others, but how you speak to yourself as well. Please feel free to pass this on to others, and I ask if you have any positive and encouraging experiences like I have had please share below!!
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