A Story of Flipping Negative to Positive: It all started with a pencil
Frustration Friday…
Here I am, tackling my math homework after a 30-year hiatus. And let me tell you, it's not going swell, lol. Not only am I struggling to wrap my head around logarithms, exponents, and all these funky equations, but my mechanical pencil is betraying me with lead breakage at every turn. Seriously, it's like my pencil has a vendetta against my wrong calculations!
In the midst of my rising frustration, I decide to take a breather. I warm up some yummy pizza from yesterday, plop back down, and contemplate my pencil predicament. No matter how gingerly I hold it or how much pressure I apply, that darn lead just keeps on snapping. Is it my grip? Am I writing with the force of a charging rhino? Who knows? What I do know is being frustrated and annoyed isn’t going to help me with my homework, it will only make it more difficult because I’m too focused on little annoyances.
Something amazing is going to happen.
I summoned my inner optimist and declared to myself that each time my lead breaks, it's a sign that something amazing is about to happen. If my lead breaks 20 more times in the next five minutes, I'm in for a whopping 20 strokes of good luck!
It's a tale of finding joy in the midst of annoyance, transforming frustrations into silver linings. Not everything has to be a buzzkill or put you in a sour mood. You have the power to inject positivity into any situation, no matter how grim.
So, as I power on through my homework, wrestling with math problems and the unruly lead-snapping pencil, I hold onto the unwavering belief that a barrage of awesome things awaits me.
I wanted to share this epiphany because the truth is, when you're feeling frustrated and things just ain't going your way, you have an option to look at it as a nuisance and be bitter about it the entire time OR you can look at it as an opportunity to turn things around and view them through a more cheerful lens. Trust me, it makes all the difference!
Welp, back to this stuff they call math… I hope every one have an amazing weekend!!!
Best Regards,
Maricella
Recent Comments
11
Thank You, Maricella. This is a lesson I need to learn too often.
As far as your "lead breakage" goes, are you extending it too far out? If all else fails and you get fed up with that mechanical pencil, you can always switch to a wooden one or get an architect's/engineer's mechanical pencil (and sharpener, and external eraser). That is my go-to pencil when I need one. :)
Good Fortune and Blessings.
JD
That certainly is a great way of dealing with problems, Maricella. My day has just been brightened by reading your post. Fantastic!
Valerie
Thank you Valerie! Your are so nice! :) Today was a challenging day for me, some tears were shed i wont lie…but that’s why i shared my story… I made the choice to react positive to the several situations i was dealing with, and i hope my story inspired others to do the same:).
You did the right thing, Maricella. When we bottle things up and continually have regrets, life just gets worse! I can certainly relate to the challenge you had today.
Something I used to do to start each day was to sing a song to myself. It is a song from long ago which goes like "It's a Hap, Hap, Happy Day, Toodle Doodle Oodle Oodle Ah. You Can't Go Wrong When You Sing a Song, All the Clouds Have Passed Away." This might seem a little silly but it certainly worked for me. Also a few other cheerful songs! I haven't done that for a long time, so a big thanks to you for reminding me that there is a way to overcome our negative thoughts. I'm sure there are other ways, but music has always been my thing!
Here is a link to that song in YouTube, It sounds as though it comes from the Ark. The song was probably composed in the 1920s. The first minute or so is just a band playing, but then you can hear the song being sung.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8p_FobpvEc
Sending heaps of good wishes to you Maricella :)
Valerie
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I hate math, too; it's my worst subject! Great way to change your thinking and attitude! Mechanical pencils generally take one of two primary lead sizes: 0.7 and 0.5. The 0.5 is a smaller, much easier to break lead than the 0.7 is, so perhaps yours is the smaller one which could be why its breaking so easily. 😉