I was out in Vegas recently speaking for a large automotive association. After a long flight from Florida, I was ready to quickly grab a cab and head to my hotel. I exited the baggage claim area to see nearly 300 people in the cab line. Stop. Freeze. Wait.
Version 1 response: Anger. Frustration. Some well placed curse words. Raised blood pressure. Martyr-syndrome phrasing like, “why do things like this happen to me?”
Version 2 response: Breathe. Relax. And remember the three modalities of “awakened doing” (inspired living) by Eckhart Tolle in his book, A New Earth – acceptance, enjoyment and enthusiasm.
• Acceptance means it this may not be my favorite thing but I’ll be present and accept that this is how it is and has to be at this moment (after all, we are living only in this particular moment).
• Enjoyment means I really like what is happening in this moment.
• Enthusiasm means there is deep enjoyment in this moment plus the added element of a goal or a vision you are working toward – some achievement.
I chose version two. Here’s what happened:
I took a deep breath and in that moment of being really present, I realized that it was an unbelievably clear, cool, breezy and sunny day (it could have been 110 degrees). I smiled (now present and open) and started a conversation with Marie and Steve ahead of me and Barbara behind me. And over whatever time it took until we were next in line for cabs, we laughed, compared incoming flight stories, talked about why were in Vegas and had a great time.
Lesson: You get what you get in life – it is up to each of us to make the most of what we get. I started with acceptance – I just had to wait in the line – no reason to be upset, there was nothing I could do to either avoid the line or make it move faster. It was what it was. Remember that great line by poet Maya Angelou, “Change what you can change. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” (For those who know me this was never my first response…see, people can change…)
But accepting things made me calm and present – not a nut case that would scare the people in line. Instead, I was open to meeting new people, laughing instead of swearing, and in this one moment – because all we ever get in life is the one moment we are in – what could have be torture, was enjoyment. Life was great – waiting in line. Imagine.
So I am reminded that I choose how to respond to what comes at me. I find that a great way to be in the zone (since this newsletter is about sharing ways to discover and live in our greatness zone) is to make every event about acceptance, enjoyment or enthusiasm. This way we make the most of whatever comes our way.
Good news should always be shared, and learning to make each moment about acceptance, enjoyment or enthusiasm is really good news. So please share this with someone who can benefit from it and check out tools to get you into your zone at www.TheGreatnessZone.com.
