In the first days of February, it seemed like we were going to get off easy this winter. We had gotten well below normal snowfall in December and January and winter’s end was in sight. Then, starting with the blizzard on February 8th that dropped two feet of snow, we had snowstorms three weekends in a row. By the end of February and early March people seemed glum. They had had enough and were ready for winter to be over.
I know I reached that point. I count myself among those people whose mood tracks the weather to some degree. When it’s cloudy and cold, I’m a bit sullen. When it’s sunny and warm, I’m more buoyant. I’ve heard the theory many times that our outlook should not be at the mercy of external circumstances like the weather. We are supposed to be inner-directed, the master of our own moods and attitude. That makes a lot of sense and sounds great, it just does not come naturally to me or, from what I can tell, a lot of people.
But such people do exist! I feel lucky to have had encounters recently with people who do seem self-possessed, cheerful and unaffected by circumstances in the way that many of us are. Each brightened my day just by being around them. The first was a postal worker. I went to the post office at noon to mail my tax return. Two attendants were at the counter and I chose the one who met my gaze and therefore seemed more welcoming. I handed her the envelope and asked to buy postage for it. She said “Oooh, looks evil”, with a little smile, because it was addressed to the IRS. I laughed and agreed. Next, while I intended to buy basic first class postage, I was ready for her to sell me on the extra options, like insurance and tracking. And she did, but each time I declined, she immediately replied with something funny. Her jokes were pretty lame and she seemed to know that, but she broke me out of my IRS haze and did get me to laugh and feel lucky to have chosen her line. It seemed like a routine she repeated many times a day, but it was funny and turned a mundane transaction into a pleasant experience.
The second person was the Sunday front desk attendant at my gym. She has had a similar effect, but in a different way. When people enter the gym, she greets them and smiles. But such encounters are not frequent on Sundays because traffic is low. The rest of the time she impresses by her non-stop activity. That is notable because I’ve observed a number of attendants over the years. Most sit at the front desk and work on the computer and occasionally wash towels when the supply of clean towels gets low. But this particular attendant hardly ever sits; she is either washing or folding towels (the supply never gets low when she is working), cleaning exercise equipment, or talking to customers. She is a dynamo and always seems happy. She appears to be one of those rare people who puts her all into everything she does. She’s inspiring.
These two people reminded me that, even while doing un-stimulating chores or enduring a particularly challenging winter, we each can choose to respond more positively to it. I’m not sure I can rise to the challenge as gracefully as these folks, but I’m inspired to try.