“Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure.”
Recently my husband and I invested in a robot vacuum.
I was resistant at first because, living in a New York City apartment, we don't have that much square footage to clean.
It seemed a bit frivolous and unnecessary.
But, we DO have a dog. And if you weren't already aware, dogs shed.
So eventually I came around to the idea of the robot vacuum and now I really enjoy having it.
Or rather I did...up until yesterday morning.
Because yesterday we woke up to find that:
1. Bella had pooped in my office 💩
AND
2. The vacuum (which we so brilliantly have scheduled to clean the office at 5:30am) had come in and spread the poop all over the floor. 💩💩💩😫
Yeah...
So, I began my day by hurriedly scrubbing the office floor (because I needed to finish in time for my 7:30am session) while my husband completely disassembled and cleaned out the vacuum, because (as you can imagine) it was....a sight.
Oh yeah, and we lit A LOT of candles.
It's ok, you can laugh (it wasn't funny yesterday morning, but it's funny now).
Now, let me provide some context here.
👉 Bella has had an upset stomach for a few days, which is completely our fault. She has a history of a sensitive stomach and we irresponsibly gave her a bit of seafood on Sunday night. 😔
So as annoying as this was, we couldn't be mad at her.
I mean...look at that face.
I think she's sorry.
So, why am I telling you this poop story?
Well, for starters. It's hilarious. And we can all use a good laugh, especially in the current environment.
But mostly to serve as a reminder that, sh*t happens (sometimes quite literally 😂).
Even when you do everything "right".
Even when you think ahead and have the "perfect" plan.
At some point, things WILL go wrong.
This is universal. This is life.
And while we cannot completely remove negative events from our lives, we can change how we react to them.
“It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.” — Hans Selye
⚾ When life throws you a curveball, what do you do?
👉 Do you beat yourself up?
👉 Do you become negative or throw a fit?
👉 Or do you learn from it and move on? (And maybe even have a laugh about it the next day...)
When we don't deal with negative events in a healthy way, we end up causing more damage than the original problem created in the first place.
We waste time resisting reality and dwelling on what "shouldn't" have happened rather than accepting what is and moving forward.
By learning to deal with daily setbacks with patience and positivity, we make ourselves more resilient to the bigger challenges life will eventually throw our way.
The next time you're dealing with a setback consider these 5 tips:
1. Gain perspective. Ask yourself, Am I the only person in the world facing this problem? And, How is it going to affect my life in the next 1 year? 5 years? 10 years?
➡ Acknowledging that everyone has problems helps remove some of the "why is this happening to ME?!?!" mentality. And while the incident feels painful right now, it’s because you just experienced it. One or more years from now, you likely won’t think about it much.
2. Vent, then move on. Talk to a friend, complain, scream at the top of your lungs, punch a pillow. Feel the emotion but don't hold onto it.
➡ Complaining doesn't solve problems. Action does (see #3).
3. Focus on what you CAN do. Focusing on things that cannot be changed will leave you feeling upset, powerless and defeated. Instead, give your attention to the things that ARE within your control.
➡ And once you've hashed out these steps, act on them.
4. Identify how you can improve from this experience. Within every problem is an opportunity to learn. What is this experience teaching you? And how will you be able to apply this in the future?
➡ Keep in mind: the bigger the problem, the bigger the lesson.
5. Have a good laugh and light a few candles. Don't be so hard on yourself, and don't take things so seriously.
➡ A little self-care and a sense of humor go a long way. 😉
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