My sister sent me this little lesson this morning. Funny, that this spirit check popped up on my email just as a super duper front loader dumped into my head. I was on a heart racing hold with our well known tv, internet, phone network, to try to make a correction on my bill. Last month an agent approached me in the local wireless store and proudly announced that he could save us over $50 on our monthly bill. After retrieving my phone number, he came back beaming with the news that he could save us $52 dollars, just because the rates had changed since we signed up. I asked every question known to man, and the business suited 'teny-bopper' with the pink tie was undaunted. He knew he would save me $52 and I would be looking him up to thank him. Yesterday, our bill came in at a hair raising $62 increase! You just better believe me that this was a well needed spirit check. Perhaps you are in that on-hold-waiting-to-boil-over position too. Regardless, the following is an apt reminder!
Law of the Garbage Truck
How often do you let other people change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you're the Terminator, for an instant you're probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly she/he can get back her/his focus on what's important. Five years ago I learned this lesson in the back of a taxi cab in Denver. Here's what happened: I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was really friendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.' He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so . . . 'Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.'
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