Leave Your Trash At Home

I read recently that if we could just acknowledge and accept that life will have trouble, we could actually handle life’s trials better. I wish I was able to be that logical about my daily trials and tribulations. There are plenty of books on how to overcome adversity or how to deal with difficult people. But, ongoing family drama, money issues and health problems are the “trash” we carry with us to work each day. Some of us do better than others when it comes to putting our personal trash in the can and closing the lid before we get to the office.

I have daily trash and I admit that sometimes if I don’t deal with it, the heap of trash is too big for me to handle. The end result is having a short temper, feeling exhausted or a lack of focus. The people around me expect me to have a positive attitude all the time and to apply my professional problem solving skills by putting a lid on my personal trash. You may have a boss or customer that has the same expectation of you. Separating our personal and work lives is not as easy as it sounds, but it can be done.

Regardless of what is happening to you and around you, you do not have the right to take it out on others. How can we remain positive when life’s trash is mounting?

At home:
1) Start and end each day by counting your blessings. “Look at your blessings with both eyes- your troubles with one.”
2) Remove some things from your “to do” list and give yourself time to relax each week. Over committing yourself adds to your heap of trash!
3) Laugh! (Watching The Office or playing golf makes me laugh every time!)
4) Exercise.
5) Turn off your phone.

At work:
1) Start and end your work day by counting your blessings. A lot of people do not have a job.
2) Be intentional about saying nice things to your co-workers and your customers. When you put forth effort to be positive, it changes your mood and the vibe in the office. People will respond to you differently.
3) Eat a healthy lunch.
4) Use your lunch break to re-energize by listening to music, taking a walk or a power nap!
5) Stand and stretch each hour. Sitting for hours on end can result in headaches and stiff muscles.
6) “Be grateful for a few problems. They make a job interesting.”

Remember, problems are a part of life and how you respond to them is your choice. “The difficulties of life are meant to make us better, not bitter.”

Ref quotes- The Complete Book Of Zingers-Croft M. Pentz