Circle of Influence

One of my coworkers the other night was upset. Very upset. So upset that I could probably count the words spoken by him to me on my fingers for the entire time I was there. The whole five hours.

This person wasn't upset at me but spending five hours in the presence of such negativity was definitely not something I would choose to do again. After a few hours, I was feeling it. I don't think I've ever gotten so down in the dumps so quickly. By that time, I was fighting hard to maintain any kind of decent attitude. I was praying and singing hymns in my head and literally telling myself to cheer up continuously.

Then, my boss called. My very sweet manager called the store to check... on me. She had known he was upset when she left and she wanted to make sure I was doing okay. After that, it was a little easier to fight that bad mood that was waiting to overtake me. It was much easier in fact.

It made me think of how much life is like that. One of my favorite proverbs says not to be deceived -- that bad companions WILL corrupt good morals. I think that speaks to a broader concept about our natures too though.

We can be brought down by those people we are surrounded by. Or we can be encouraged by those who surround us. And it works in reverse too. We can bring others down with a bad attitude or encourage others. I've seen it in action when I wake up on the wrong side of the bed and, before long, I have my children fussing and annoying each other because they caught that mood from me.

That's one reason I've slowly started making the effort to catch myself when I'm in those moods. I've learned to just stop and tell myself to cool it. I have to make myself cheer up -- to mentally shake myself and get in a good mood. After all, it's my choice. My circle of influence can be dark and gloomy or filled with sunshine. But if I don't make the willful decision about it, there'll be someone else who does.