A reminder, don’t tolerate bad behavior, from yourself.
The other day I was having a bad day. I was grumpy, grouchy and despite my good intentions was definitely not someone I wanted to be around. How do I get out of this funk, I thought. Is it just me today because I’m not feeling well, and I am allowed to be grumpy from time to time.
OK, so it’s all right to not be as kind as I would like. I can go right by that homeless guy without putting any money in his hand, even though it’s really cold out today. Or be a little grouchy with my friend at lunch when something had to be changed. And damn I don’t want to “round up” to help when I pay for something.
Oscar the Grouch would have loved me; we could have been best buds.
And then it dawned on me, I didn’t have to tolerate bad behavior, from myself. I could damn well do something about it. I checked in with what was going on and realized I had been eating rather poorly, hadn’t slept enough (can always blame the cat on that one) and hadn’t had time to get outside, which always rejuvenates me.
All those things can be easily rectified, as long as I don’t make excuses for myself and tolerate this kind of behavior. I’ve already started making small changes so I don’t spread my grumpiness around like a bad cold. And then, I need to top it off with something better.
I came up with the acronym LOOK- Limitless Opportunities for Outrageous Kindness. And my job, I’ve decided, is to see how often I can find ways to be kind on any given day.
This is a small reminder, if you see yourself starting to lean into a pattern of grumpy behavior, don’t accept it, don’t make excuses for it and for goodness sakes don’t tolerate it. You’ve got choices!
