One Positive Response....

When we were working on the lawn of our house after we first moved in, we were greeted by a very friendly neighbor. He got his lawn mower and started mowing our lawn. He did it a couple of times until we bought ours and even lent us his edger and trimmer without our asking. Yes, we have some very nice neighbors. But that's not what this post is about. Each time I see him and ask how he is, he  responds in the most enthusiastic way "I am fantastic, thanks", and it always put me in a good mood to see him. And somehow, he is always the first person to greet us "Hello neighbors!", he shouts from his garage.

This makes me wonder, a lot of times our response to how are you doing is something like "hanging in there" or in Hindi we say "bus, chal raha hai". Sure we all are busy in our lives and dealing with everyday stress, but now I realise it's not always necessary to hint at that. There is a quote from Mindy Kaling's book, Is everyone hanging out without me, that says

“I do not think stress is a legitimate topic of conversation, in public anyway. No one ever wants to hear how stressed out anyone else is, because most of the time everyone is stressed out. Going on and on in detail about how stressed out I am isn’t conversation. It’ll never lead anywhere. No one is going to say, “Wow, Mindy, you really have it especially bad. I have heard some stories of stress, but this just takes the cake.” 

The same neighbor, who broke his leg once and then his arm, would still maintain the same cheerfulness and response. And his one positive response has such a profound impact on another person's (I am sure) life. Come to think of it, simple positive responses steers people away from the usual complaints of busy-ness. If someone is happy and carefree, the other person is less likely to add bad news or negative feelings to a conversation. Right?

So start practice saying, "I am Super", "I am fantastic", "Couldn't be better" and see the difference....

Have a wonderful weekend....with much positivity!