Woke up today to the power being out. This sometimes happens randomly during a storm or sporadically if someone hits a transformer. (I later found out it was an equipment issue.) Cold and dark in the house, my mind started going in every direction. I thought about all the things I had to do today and they all needed power behind it.
Feeling my level of frustration rising before I even got coffee in my system (wait a minute, I can’t have coffee with the power out), I slowed myself down a bit. I was temporarily inconvenienced..temporarily and almost complained. I stopped myself and thought about how grateful I was instead. No, not that the power was out but because I knew it would come back on.
Reflecting on those moments, when the power went out and my mind raced as a single parent. Did I pay the bill? Did I have money to pay the bill? I’m sure most people can relate to that.
However now, years later my life is way different. Those aren’t worries for me anymore. I realized that my temporary inconvenience is somebody’s life, it used to be mine!
- Attitude really does determine your altitude. Had I not been grateful for being able to pay my bills (no matter how much I struggled), there is no doubt I would still be there. I was grateful for every step along the way. I also learned that sometimes slowing down makes you slow down and do things better.
I am a person of routine, especially in the mornings, however, today, that didn’t happen. Things had to be rescheduled and put on the side. But I appreciated the unscheduled “break” in the routine. It allowed me to think things through and be more productive when the power did come back on.
- So as we look to achieve higher personal and professional goals, we must ask ourselves…are we grateful RIGHT NOW? Do we realize how far we have come? Do we appreciate that part of our story? Have we learned to do better? Are we taking time out to break our routine? Let’s do better in 2k19.
Originally published at www.valenciagwallace.com