Flipping Resentment to Gratitude

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” -Dr. Wayne Dyer 

 I love a good Wayne Dyer quote. Especially when it sums up a moment in time so perfectly. Yesterday I was faced with a situation that I resented strenuously. I could feel it building too, like blowing a balloon up to the point of it popping right in your face. I was one breath away from whining, ranting and possibly crying from frustration. I dislike it when I feel like I have no choice in a situation. Doesn't everyone?

It all started with trying to have a healthy protein smoothie. Sounds innocent enough. Until Costco recalled my Organic Antioxidant Berry Blend by Townsend Farms. What? Organic berries contaminated with Hepatitis? Seriously, how is that even possible? And of course I found this out a few days after having made myself a nice heaping, delicious, yummy smoothie. Spectacular.

My mind first goes to the pain in the butt thought of having to return them and get a new package. Burning up perfectly good time I could be spending on something else but I can let it go, I'm self-aware and that frustration is just a transient feeling. Really, I've got this.

A couple of days later my boyfriend says I need to get a shot. A Hepatitis A shot. Excuse me? A vaccaine? Oh no, thank you. I'm healthy and I avoid that stuff like the plague. No signs of being sick at all. However, the incubation period is 6 weeks for signs of infection and the shot must be administered within 14 days of exposure to be effective. Plus he said please. Logically, I have to get the shot, even if I wanted to stomp my feet and scream.

I'm sitting in the car as he is driving me to Costco to get the shot, and get information. A cascade of negativity building and I'm feeding it lots of kindling to get the flames high. I was barely even aware of it at the time, I was simply way too busy stoking the fire. From Costco we were on to the Health Department, because Coscto didn't get their vaccine shipment (someone there has some bad karma right now because clearly nothing is going right at Costco). As we are driving to the Health Department I'm about to open up my big mouth and let out a stream of whining "why me" complaints and that's when I witnessed the stew I had bubbling in my head. Oops!

Hmm. Let's think about this. Not only did he find out all the pertinent information, he was driving me all over the place to get this done. Was he complaining that he had to take time out of his day to do it? About how annoying it was? How unfair it was? Send me off to do it all myself? Nope, not a single word of complaint. In fact, he asked if I wanted him to go up to the window and in the back when we arrived.

It was while driving to the Health Department I realized I had a lot more to be grateful for and there was nothing really to complain about at all.

I found out in time to get the shot. I have no symptoms. It was even free. And someone important to me is concerned enough to make sure I was cared for and protected from getting sick. I'm actually very lucky and perhaps, as I said before in an earlier blog, things really do happen for us, not to us.

Half full, half empty ... It really is just a perspective and you can flip it in an instant.