This past Saturday, I arranged for John and I to take a behind the scenes tour of the Magic Kingdom. We had to meet for our tour at 8:15 am. Around 7:30 am, we were pulling in to park, only to be told we were previously misinformed and we had to drive 20 minutes in the opposite direction before parking. After another 20 minutes, we finally parked and had to run to board a boat to the Magic Kingdom. Once on the boat, I asked one of the drivers if we would be pulling out soon or if we would have to wait until the boat was full. He assured me that we would be pulling out in five minutes and the trip to the Magic Kingdom would take three minutes. Instead, we pulled out in 20 minutes and the trip took five minutes. I was sure that we would miss the tour but by some miracle, they were still in the front area of Magic Kingdom and we were able to sign in and then run over to catch up to our tour group. About five minutes after we joined our group, it started raining. I initially thought to myself that it wasn’t a big deal. It will often rain for about ten minutes in central Florida and then it will stop all together. This time however, it didn’t stop. It rained for a solid two hours of our five hour tour and it wasn’t until after the first hour that I had the chance to go purchase an umbrella.
The easy option would have been to complain and state that I was having a horrible day. It would be both easy and understandable to say that one thing kept happening after the other and the day had not turned out at all how I had planned. Instead, I did something different than giving in to being upset. I decided that I was going to be happy and I was going to make the best out of the situation that I was in. Instead of being upset with the employee who told me to park in the wrong area, which almost caused John and I to miss the tour, I decided to be happy that we made it on time. Instead of being upset that I had to purchase an umbrella from Disney, I decided to feel thankful that I have the money to be able to do so. Instead of sulking in the rain, I decided to dance in it.
There will always be uncontrollable forces changing the path you are on and there will be times that avoiding negative feelings will be completely impossible. However, on most days, willing yourself to have a positive outlook can be very powerful. Deciding to be positive and making the best out of the situation that you are in can make a bad day into a good one and a good day into a great one.
Next time you find yourself in a negative situation, ask yourself if you think that being positive could change the course of your day. Decide to put your best foot forward and do the best with the situation that you were handed. Putting a smile on your face and deciding that nothing is going to make your positive mood turn negative may just be enough to ensure that there are happier days in your future.