B+ ("Positive" not "Plus")

{Originally written: Tuesday - 10/24/06}

My father once told me, "Never allow someone to live rent-free in your mind." My father has dropped many a jewel on me over the years - I think more often unbeknownst to even himself, but that one is up there at the top of the list.

A couple of days ago a person at my job really pissed me off by asking me a stupid question, that by all rights had an undertone that was really questioning my job performance. This was not exactly the best way to end off the last day of work before having four days off, and I left work feeling miserable. To add on top of that, I was en route to the wake of one of my brothers immediately after work (R.I.P. "Giggles").

While driving on the highway I recognized that I was in a negative mental state, and more importantly knew I didn't want to be there, so I turned up the music in the car and I began shifting gears in my mind to try and change my mental state. Two things came to mind that made it happen. The first was that jewel of wisdom from my father. I realized that person at my job was occupying some prime real estate in my mind while I knew I certainly was not occupying any kind of equal value of significance in his mind.

Secondly, somehow I thought about my blood type "B+." When that popped into my mind, I felt as though I had just stepped out of the shower! You know that fresh feeling you have while you're still engulfed in the mist and heat and steam right before you begin to dry off? I thought to myself, "this is how God made me ... He made me to BE POSITIVE!" With that, I was able to walk into that funeral parlor and be an example of strength while also enduring sadness and loss.

I used to always think that we cannot control how we feel. I no longer subscribe to that particular belief. You may not be able to control your feelings as they come upon you; however, once they are there and in your face, just as big and bold as the light of day, you can either engulf yourself in those feelings or you can make a conscious decision immediately followed by a conscious effort to change those feelings - especially if they are not conducive to you achieving optimum performance, or at the very least you achieving a positive state of mind.