It’s the end of the first week of the 52-Week Prosperity Plan. Only 51 more weeks to go until completion and the attainment of your 52-week Prosperity Plan medal and graduation certificate (okay so those things don’t really exist… but maybe I will come up with something, come to think of it).
How’d it go? Did you choose to be positive? Did you stumble across any life-changing revelations? No? Well, let me tell you how my week went.
First of all, today could have been bad. I locked my keys in my truck. I locked my keys in my truck while 50 minutes away from home, in some little western Kansas town I certainly wasn’t familiar with. I was there with my girlfriend for her little sister’s track meet, meaning all of her family was there as well. This was family of hers I hadn’t met yet (like, ya know, her mom and dad), and there I go locking my keys in the truck… nice first impression.
On top of that, after we get the one cop in town to come and use his patented break-into-any-locked-vehicle method (which worked perfect actually), I realized that I had left the key in the on position, meaning my battery was dead. I needed a jump from said girlfriend’s Dad.
But wait a minute, didn’t I just say this could have been bad? Doesn’t it already sound bad? Yeah, it kinda does already sound bad, until you get a little perspective.
I didn’t know I locked my keys in the truck at first, I thought I had just lost them. Had I actually lost them, I would have had to get a 50-minute car ride back to my apartment from my girlfriend’s father, which I had just met. Then I would have had to pray that I could get in touch with my landlord and that she would be able to come open my apartment for me, since my apartment key was on my key ring.
Once inside, I would have to track down the spare truck key… if I could remember where I put it.
Another 50-minute drive back with the newly-met father, all the while being sized up and judged as to whether or not I was good enough for his little girl.
At least at this point I would be able to get in my truck and drive home. But the potential disaster isn’t over yet.
I would have to get a new mail key. I would have to get another truck key made. Another apartment key made. I would even have to get a new grocery store scan card (the little key ring-sized one).
See where I’m going with this yet?
If this hadn’t been the week that I was focused on being positive and looking at things in a different light, and I mean really focused, I would have been concentrating on all of these potential bad things. Instead, the only thing I focused on was the fact that it could have been worse and that all today had been was an hour-long inconvenience. I could have been thinking about how the immediate family of my new girlfriend I had just met must think I’m a dunce, except that I didn’t; instead I chose to focus on her mother telling me that she herself locks her keys in her car about once a week or so.
The other big thing that I worked on was my attitude about third shift. While I’ve gotten used to it, and it’s really a good gig, there are times that going into work at 11 PM at night still puts me in a bad mood. Then there’s the trying to stay awake and alert all night long. Add to that the fact that I drive home in the morning surrounded by the very enjoyable, sunny, spring-like weather that I have to sleep through because I’ve been up all night, and there are times when I become quite negative.
This week though I tried to see all the potential opportunities about third shift, like the amount of extra time I have to read and study, do some homework, and learn more about my career field (usually third shift is pretty quiet).
I end up saving a bit of money on third shift due to the fact that I’m at work when most of my friends are hittin’ up the town on Thursday and Friday nights.
Finally, I get the gym at work to myself… not too many people like to work out at 3 AM apparently. That just means the gym radio plays what I want it to play, however loud I want it.
There were many other things throughout the week that I caught myself thinking about in a negative light, but working third shift and my truck experience today received the bulk of my “try to be positive” energies.
I think the simple focus on being positive helped every aspect of my week. I know that I felt a lot more rested throughout the week, and that I slept better. I was more calm and relaxed in general, and had more of that “everything is okay” kind of feeling.
Honestly, I don’t really want to move on to something else next week, I want to stay on this week’s concept. But that wouldn’t get us further along on the 52-Week Prosperity Plan, now would it?
