One of my friends from back home sent me an email with a presentation that went along the lines of... you have a choice. You can choose to be unhappy or happy today. Or so it went. I woke up today and thought about it. I decided I would have a good time today. It was a sunny Monday, the weather was nice, I had done my research on beer over the weekend and was ready to stock the beer fridge at work etc.
I get to work early and am bombarded by all sorts of requests from people relating to work. That gets to me and I get frustrated. I've been rather unhappy of late with my effort at work and my performance. All the extra stuff that came my way was just adding to it. I remembered the forward and thought about the good day bit. I took a walk and decided I would have a good day. So far, so good.
I left at a reasonable time to get the beer fridge filled. I went to the store, got most of what I wanted and left in peace. Drove back to the office, went to park the car in the underground parking lot. As I was driving in, I heard a bump and scrape. I was shocked. The car had hit the wall. I parked it and got out, half afraid of what I had done. I was hoping madly that nothing would show. That wasn't the case. I went out and saw to my horror that my rear right door and wheel well were scraped badly. I mean real badly. I could not believe it! I was mad at myself. I can't believe I managed to not pay attention enough for those few seconds and ended up scraping the car. I was upset and walked away.
That forward crept up again... I was trying to have a good day, but what a way to get screwed. I was so angry. So much for the good day. My choice lay in having a good day or getting pissed off. I was pissed. Really unhappy. I talked to a co-worker. She tried to put things into perspective by saying things like... this is one problem that can be fixed by throwing money at it, how many such problems are there? ...don't worry, its not like you got a girl pregnant. ...at least no one got hurt etc.
She was right. And yet I was so mad. I stayed and worked for a bit and then went home. I had to listen to the jokes others made at my expense. I felt ultra sensitive about distance the whole drive home; I was looking out the windows, mirrors etc. If anything, I was more distracted as a result of me trying to be careful. I had to explain to mum what had happened and I felt so horrible doing that. It is only _just_ a car and it _can_ be fixed by throwing money at it but still... it was _my_ car and a _new_ one at that. That upset me a lot. But then I remembered the forward... it said... you have a choice, you can choose to be happy today or be unhappy today. I am trying real hard to not be unhappy today. I don't know if it is working.
I dread looking at the car tomorrow. I feel so sad that I caused such harm to such a beautiful piece of Engineering. I know it is _only_ a car, but to me, it is so much more. Its my first real big ticket item. And I ruined it. I would have been even more mad had it been someone else who had done it... but as fate would have it, the damage on it taught me a lesson: I can choose to be happy today too, despite it all. I mean, no one died, no one starved to death, no one lost a limb or two, no wars broke out as a result, no damage was done to the world.
I shall have to thank my friend for the forward and its infinite wisdom.
I get to work early and am bombarded by all sorts of requests from people relating to work. That gets to me and I get frustrated. I've been rather unhappy of late with my effort at work and my performance. All the extra stuff that came my way was just adding to it. I remembered the forward and thought about the good day bit. I took a walk and decided I would have a good day. So far, so good.
I left at a reasonable time to get the beer fridge filled. I went to the store, got most of what I wanted and left in peace. Drove back to the office, went to park the car in the underground parking lot. As I was driving in, I heard a bump and scrape. I was shocked. The car had hit the wall. I parked it and got out, half afraid of what I had done. I was hoping madly that nothing would show. That wasn't the case. I went out and saw to my horror that my rear right door and wheel well were scraped badly. I mean real badly. I could not believe it! I was mad at myself. I can't believe I managed to not pay attention enough for those few seconds and ended up scraping the car. I was upset and walked away.
That forward crept up again... I was trying to have a good day, but what a way to get screwed. I was so angry. So much for the good day. My choice lay in having a good day or getting pissed off. I was pissed. Really unhappy. I talked to a co-worker. She tried to put things into perspective by saying things like... this is one problem that can be fixed by throwing money at it, how many such problems are there? ...don't worry, its not like you got a girl pregnant. ...at least no one got hurt etc.
She was right. And yet I was so mad. I stayed and worked for a bit and then went home. I had to listen to the jokes others made at my expense. I felt ultra sensitive about distance the whole drive home; I was looking out the windows, mirrors etc. If anything, I was more distracted as a result of me trying to be careful. I had to explain to mum what had happened and I felt so horrible doing that. It is only _just_ a car and it _can_ be fixed by throwing money at it but still... it was _my_ car and a _new_ one at that. That upset me a lot. But then I remembered the forward... it said... you have a choice, you can choose to be happy today or be unhappy today. I am trying real hard to not be unhappy today. I don't know if it is working.
I dread looking at the car tomorrow. I feel so sad that I caused such harm to such a beautiful piece of Engineering. I know it is _only_ a car, but to me, it is so much more. Its my first real big ticket item. And I ruined it. I would have been even more mad had it been someone else who had done it... but as fate would have it, the damage on it taught me a lesson: I can choose to be happy today too, despite it all. I mean, no one died, no one starved to death, no one lost a limb or two, no wars broke out as a result, no damage was done to the world.
I shall have to thank my friend for the forward and its infinite wisdom.
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