Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Attitude Check?!?!


Do you ever feel like everything around you is just NOT going your way?  It’s usually on Mondays that I feel that way.  On Mondays, Caleb’s routine is almost always off, because we spent the day before at church.  He completely refuses to take naps like he should, which then puts me into a tailspin toward a whiny, fussy morning, and Caleb has a hard day too.
It’s Mondays where I usually forget to brush my teeth until about 2:00 in the afternoon, and on Mondays that I typically end up changing into 3 different outfits during the day because I’ve had all kinds of bodily “things” launched at me.  By about 3:00 I’m completely spent, and it’s everything I can do to chase Caleb as he tries to climb up the stairs once more, and “shush” our dog as he barks at the mailman outside our door.  When Steve walks in around 6:00pm on Mondays it’s all I can do not to climb into bed by 6:30pm.  It’s on Monday’s where I find myself, most regularly, at my “wit’s end” and where I end up frustrated with Steve before he ever walks in the door, at something he usually didn’t even do. 
Have you ever been there?

A little while back I realized that my attitude was putting a damper on the rest of my family.  Caleb was more upset because I was upset, and Steve was walking on egg-shells around me when he came home, making our time together in the evening, basically worthless.  It was during this “a-ha moment” that I realized that my attitude defined the rest of my family’s attitudes, and if I wanted them to be nice to me, I first, needed to be nice to them.

It’s on that day, that I started implementing a wise phrase that I learned years ago:  "Attitude Check?!"    Whenever my attitude is grumpy, or I find myself knit picking at anyone else, I call out my own self, demanding an attitude adjustment.  Typically, if I can catch myself early enough in the day, my day, overall, will be far more bearable.  I’ll (usually) have a smile on my face when Steve walks in the door, and although I may be worn out, my desire to find the positive elements of my day, when recapping them to Steve at dinner, will be far more productive!
So, how’s your day going?  Do you need an Attitude Check?! 
Start this morning, and just see if you have a better day!

No comments:

Post a Comment