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I’m sure most reading this have read me griping about work kicking my ass lately, my attitude has certainly suffered as a result and when I don’t give myself a proper break from work, I turn into a f*cking basketcase. Something I learned during my divorce was how uplifting it can be to just be nice or helpful to someone. I was at the lowest point of my life and was barely able to maintain the mental energy to get through a single day and at one point, in a desperate attempt to just feel good for even just a minute, I started going out of my way to be helpful to people, whether they asked for help or not.
This past weekend I was determined to get back to work in a better mood because I don’t like being a little bitch. As soon as I rolled in on Monday I was already drained as I was getting texts and phone calls from an impatient tenant, looking for information I already gave her. My mood dropped immediately and it had seemed like I already failed at my goal before the day even started. As I walked into the lobby to go to my office, I saw a woman with her kids trying to use the directory, it’s not a big building and I could tell she was having a rough time, so I asked her where she was going then got her and her kids in the elevator and walked them to the office they needed to go to. Just that little thing changed my entire mood around and reset my morning.
It doesn’t even have to be a big thing, that took me all of 20 seconds and changed my entire demeanor. It’s impossible to feel angry when you’re doing something nice for someone (unless you’re doing it for the wrong reasons). And even if that person is ungrateful, that shouldn’t take away from the knowing that you went out of your way to do something nice for someone. Sure, it’s self-serving in that I’m doing it to put me in a better mood, but I figure if someone is getting some kind of assistance out of it or I can make someone’s day a little easier, it’s not all that bad.
You’d think with a job that literally fixes people’s problems would be self-fullfilling, but it doesn’t work out that way.
Fortunately, there’s always someone around me that could use some kind of assistance and once I start, I have a hard time stopping. Yesterday to chill myself out I just walked into every lobby on the campus and looked for people trying to figure out where they were going, or randomly walking up to the cleaners and helping them carry boxes or trash out to the dumpster, or just did some surprise visits in tenant’s suites to see how they’re doing if I hadn’t heard from them in a while.
It’s very easy to get caught up in the day to day and forget that doing this feels as good as it does. They’re no life changing acts, but the process itself can be life changing if you happen to constantly battle anger like I have for the majority of my life. I’ve often viewed anger as an unwelcome guest kicking up it’s feet in my home, so it’s nice having a way to kick the f*cker out and maybe this can help someone here get through their day a little better.
This past weekend I was determined to get back to work in a better mood because I don’t like being a little bitch. As soon as I rolled in on Monday I was already drained as I was getting texts and phone calls from an impatient tenant, looking for information I already gave her. My mood dropped immediately and it had seemed like I already failed at my goal before the day even started. As I walked into the lobby to go to my office, I saw a woman with her kids trying to use the directory, it’s not a big building and I could tell she was having a rough time, so I asked her where she was going then got her and her kids in the elevator and walked them to the office they needed to go to. Just that little thing changed my entire mood around and reset my morning.
It doesn’t even have to be a big thing, that took me all of 20 seconds and changed my entire demeanor. It’s impossible to feel angry when you’re doing something nice for someone (unless you’re doing it for the wrong reasons). And even if that person is ungrateful, that shouldn’t take away from the knowing that you went out of your way to do something nice for someone. Sure, it’s self-serving in that I’m doing it to put me in a better mood, but I figure if someone is getting some kind of assistance out of it or I can make someone’s day a little easier, it’s not all that bad.
You’d think with a job that literally fixes people’s problems would be self-fullfilling, but it doesn’t work out that way.
Fortunately, there’s always someone around me that could use some kind of assistance and once I start, I have a hard time stopping. Yesterday to chill myself out I just walked into every lobby on the campus and looked for people trying to figure out where they were going, or randomly walking up to the cleaners and helping them carry boxes or trash out to the dumpster, or just did some surprise visits in tenant’s suites to see how they’re doing if I hadn’t heard from them in a while. It’s very easy to get caught up in the day to day and forget that doing this feels as good as it does. They’re no life changing acts, but the process itself can be life changing if you happen to constantly battle anger like I have for the majority of my life. I’ve often viewed anger as an unwelcome guest kicking up it’s feet in my home, so it’s nice having a way to kick the f*cker out and maybe this can help someone here get through their day a little better.
