Attitude

While leaving my internship and rushing to my second job, I grumble and dread the 6 ½ more hours of work looming ahead of me. The bags under my eyes make me feel like a basset hound dog. It feels like a nail is pounding into my skull. My busy schedule has resulted in a sad excuse for a social life, and all I want to do is be a lump on my couch.

The more I complain about it, the worse everything gets. Going into my shift with this attitude, the night drags on. The minutes turn to hours and hours to days. It seems almost impossible to put on the good employee smile and say to customers, “Can I help you find something?”

Yesterday, someone told me that attitude is everything. She said that we all have a choice on how we will react to a situation.

It instantly clicked with me. Last week too many hours at my second job, car troubles, and just little day-to-day annoyances put me in a week-long slump. I allowed my mood to worsen as the week went on until the smallest thing could send me over the edge and into tears. Those words from my friend reminded me that the little things aren’t worth ruining a day, or even a minute of my time. Life is too short for that.

  
So, last night when I went to my second job, I walked in with a smile plastered on my face. I didn’t want to be there, but I told myself I would make the best of it. I joked around with colleagues, got my work done, and just let myself had fun.

By the end of the night, I was more than ready to go home and jump in bed, but I pushed through. My plastered smile turned more into a slight grin, but I tried to remain upbeat. My friend was right, it’s exhausting to be upbeat all of the time, but I find that it’s more draining to be grumpy.

So, I’m going to give this a try. Realistically, I know I can’t be upbeat every second of every day, but I’m making the effort