Recently I was having one of "those" days.
Where you pick up your tote bag on your way to rush out the door only to accidentally drop one handle and the whole bag spills half on the entry floor and half in the carport and you realize that the lid to your Nalgene wasn't screwed on all the way and the whole contents of your bag, books included, are soaked.
One of those days where a long series of event's and tiny moments all go awry and add up to a chaotic brainspace and anxious mood.
Cut to me driving to work and realizing to my utter horror....
I'm wearing socks and birkenstocks.
Not just socks....hand knit recycled fabric socks that are wild colors like a Puruvian blanket...
...with my floral birkenstocks.
The clash could not be more real.
The haphazard aura surrounding me could not be more vivid.
After getting gas, picking up my mail, and fighting Front Street traffic to get to work, I sat in the parking lot...hands still on the wheel mentally berated myself.
"Geez Louise, Talcott. Well played. Adult much? Good one. Reeeeaallll classy."
One may elaborate that I banged my head a few times on the steering wheel for good measure.
But then....
as if a switch was flipped...
I changed my dialogue.
"No. You know what? I'm wearing happy colored socks made by people who care for the environment and guess what? I do too!! Oh and my Birks? Yeah they are pretty amazing. They make my feet feel good and what is so wrong with that. Nothing? That's right.
Why should I knock myself for wearing ethical socks and sandals that are like therapy for my feet?
I shouldn't. These socks and birks mean I won today. And every day."
With that that I gave a Mary Poppins curt nod of my head, swapped to my work shoes, and headed in to my job with a bounce in my step.
Sometimes we can have days that go wrong. Every little thing seems wrong, wrong, wrong.
We feel deflated.
Beaten.
Haggard.
Discouraged.
Fed up.
But we can change that feeling if we change our dialogue!
Maybe you did burn lunch,
and put a red towel in with the white sheets,
and get a library fine late payment notice,
and vacuum up your cell charger cord,
and open a backpack that spilled pine needles all over your just vacuumed floor,
and erased your camera card with all your future blog post photos...
However,
That just means you are aware of your nutrition and are making home cooked meals! What a champ!
Red towel? Well at least it's all clean! And baby pink sheets are kinda cute....ish.
You clever dog. You've got a library card like a super smart kid who reads a lot. Intellectual giant you are!
Hey...you were doing house cleaning. How responsible!
Pine needles in your backpack? Yeah you adventurous Robinson Crusoe you! That's basically the fairy dust of an explorer!
The camera card really blows but hey! You have a chance to make your pictures even better next time! Creatives make failures into triumphs!
See what I did there? You can too!
You can put a positive spin on pretty much any flop. It may seem ludicrous or laughable but that's ok! Laugh! Enjoy the irony!
You don't have to feel 100% phenomenal but you can change a downward spiral into...dare I say it...a character building opportunity? Yeah I said it.
Practice being okay with the "Birks and socks" in your days. Once you do...you'll realize...
"My feet feel amazing!"
