Perhaps my method is working. I have two strong job leads that I will be following up on in the days ahead and I feel very excited about this. You may remember last week’s mantra for success: “Run up the hill to the garbage can and get the best job in the world.” (Note: I just added the words “up the hill.” The original mantra did not mention the hill. Only the garbage can. Somehow, it bothers me to suggest that garbage cans are a good place to find a new job. “Up the hill” sounds more lofty, more appropriate.)
But, seriously. None of it is to be taken literally, right? It’s all just a motivational trick. Stay positive, and positive things will happen. Trick or Truth? I’m beginning to see that staying positive even through the most difficult and frustrating of times is truly beneficial. First of all, you feel better. I mean, if the situation is crappy, whatever it is, why on earth would you add to the crappiness by exhibiting a foul mood? Lighten up! The opposite of crappy is happy. Just go there. It truly can be done. Secondly, when you are positive, you literally do attract more positive things to yourself. It is proven fact (somewhere) that negativity begets only more negativity.
I am not saying anything new here. This “law of attraction” thing is all over the Internet. Google it. I just did. You will be amazed by the plethora of information on this topic. The bottom line: you get what you give. Give more, you get more. It is truly true.
Every morning, as I run up that hill, a red wing black bird is sitting in this one particular tree that is part of a stand of short, scrubby little trees that run along a chain link fence. As I go by, he chirps at me. Sometime he zips away briefly, flits from the fence to the tree, but then he comes right back and chirps again. He is my messenger. He says: “Good job, keep going.”
He is a wise little bird. You should send him a post card. His address is:
Red Wing Black Bird
Scrubby Tree/Fence Post
Middle of the Hill
Planet Earth, 53081
He will write you back and tell you whatever you need to hear. Like the other birds, his days are spent eating, singing, hopping around, and then flying. Lots and lots of flying. He is never negative. How can he be? He is a bird. Let us strive to be more like him.
Lisa Vihos: Poet and Novelist 