Pride in your accomplishments ... Anything New?

I have things that I used to do that really brought me a sense of pride and accomplishment. Although, at the time, I didn't realize it ... I just felt "good", however never linked the action with the feelings.

For example, Monday this past week, it was an ice day outside in the morning and I thought ... I'm going to wash my car. I put on my little MP3 player with my Christmas songs playing (that puts me in a very nice mood, among other music choices) and I got a big bucket, put the soap in it, got out my big huge car sponge and I started washing my car. My car is black so any little water drop or dirt, or bird poop ... we all know that happens, shows up and when it's dirty it just doesn't seem to feel as nice driving.

I don't know if any of you can identify with that feeling, so lets see.

So, I was out there a good 45 min to an hour. Washing, rinsing, doing the tires, rinsing, seeing where I may have missed, washing again. Took the rugs out and knocked the dirt out of them off a telephone pole, shook them some more, then put them back in the car. Then I dried her off ... and WOW !!

She looked so sleek and clean ... and SHINNY!

I stood back and surveyed my work. I had done a very good job. I was so happy because not only did I get to do something where I felt productive, but it also made me feel like I had accomplished something really great. I had quality alone time with myself, zoned out to my music, thought about whatever popped into my head, then on to the next thought and before I knew it, the task was done.

I was proud of my accomplishment. I think, sometimes, we miss all of these important bite size accomplishments that we have on a daily basis.

I think it's important to acknowledge that we may take for granted these little things as unimportant, or just something that we "have to do" for ourselves or even for others.

Now that I have realized how important even the littlest things can be, and ARE ... it's nice to feel that sense of accomplishment and pride in our life. And you can do this every day.

Why not? Who would deny themselves the opportunity to feel so good, over something so small? All things, to me, have meaning... it doesn't have to be HUGE it can be the little things.

Take a look around you and if you find something that you are particularly proud of, that you view as an accomplishment and don't fluff off as unimportant and it "just had to be done, so I did it"...

Post it! I would love to see it... and then I can share your good feelings too!

Whattaya say Folks? Want to try?

Some People just LOVE gossip!

What would we do without gossip?

What would we do if we didn't talk about one another?

Think about it for a second... it, to me, is human nature to be that nosey about everyone else's business.

I like to go through AOL's tabloid section now and then ... not so much to see how vicious I can get about someone else's life, but for a little escapism and simple curiosity.

However, I see so many people who post comments who are so bitter and vicious, I wonder if they ever get out of the house at all.

Not all mind you, I would be wrong if I said it was everyone. However the people on some of these sites are so ... judgmental and vicious about someone else's life that I sit back and I wonder... what "they" are doing in their own life.

Where they learned how to rip someone else to shreds like that. It's a damned shame!

Like, they never made a mistake? Course, their mistakes aren't splashed all over gods green earth for people to pick at... like an old scab, just waiting to see what else is put up so they can gloat or critisize... It's really disgusting.

Take Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolee... the tabloids have been exploiting that topic now for ... what? Approximately 4 years?

They always have some "baiting" topic about how Jen is getting her revenge, or how Angelina may be threatened by Jen and that's why she didn't meet up with her one day...

They're always stirring the pot, making it worse then it needs to be... and people eat that stuff up.

What about... moving on? Lets move past the fact that they were all human, stuff happens, it's over ... ?

I mean can you all imagine, if your worst break up was splashed all over the media?

If you never got a moments rest because some paparazzi guy was following you and getting more pictures and slapping up a headline which may have absolutely nothing to do with what you were REALLY doing or thinking that day?

I tell ya... it's out of hand. Now, I do like magazines where they do interviews with the person directly. That's not all speculation or hearsay... it's straight from the horses mouth ... (Course even that can be subject to how they worded what the person said too.)

So how about it folks... what's your big attraction to these magazines that always hover over everybody, gossiping and slamming people ... like ... they don't have feelings or a right to privacy etc.

I think if people paid more attention to their own life, they would find they have no room to judge others.

I think that would be a good rule of thumb.

Some Entertainment ... LOL The Fly Swat Game!

We're so serious sometimes I think it's good to have a little escapism now and then.

Enjoy! LOL :)

http://majman.net/fly_loader.html

Being Assertive... It's really not so hard.

I had some paperwork to copy today, so I went over to Staples. I put my folder down on the copier to remove some staples from the correspondence and put them in the feeder. I inserted my card, pressed two (2) for the number I needed and the papers began to feed. The machine keeps tabs on how many copies and then charges you accordingly.

I'm watching this tabulation go up to approximately $20.00 for about 31 copies. That made no sense, so I went over to the girl at the counter and asked her how much copies are. She advised that the machine I am on was a color copier and those copies were $.49 ... I said, oh... well, I only made black and white copies, I didn't realize that it wouldn't make a difference in price. She comes over to the machine, lifts my folder and points to this rather large sign which read that all copies, whether black and white or color were .49 each.

I asked what the other machines cost per copy and she said .08 per copy. I then asked her if I could get some kind of refund or credit as I had inadvertently used the other copy machine not realizing I would get charged the other amount. She said "No"... and really wouldn't budge.

I asked about a rebate, or a credit with the store... it made no logical sense to me to have to pay twenty dollars for copies due to a mistake on my part. She again, said "No".

I thought, wow they're really stern here. It didn't sit well with me at all, it wasn't the policy that was my problem, it was more the unyeilding responses where consideration was not afforded to me for this innocent mistake. It is/was something that could be easily remedied.

I asked to speak to a manager. She called him over, spoke to him as he walked up, pointed to me and he came over. I explained to him that I had made a mistake, I respect that I had misunderstood the little sign and hadn't seen the other sign and would he be so kind as to refund me the difference. I did have two copies that came out in color and I advised I would be happy to pay the dollar for that however the entire cost was completely in error on my part.

He refunded me $16.00 ... and I was happy. So, what's my point?

Don't get mad at the person behind the counter. They are only doing their job.
Don't assume that you must accept something before going further or over the clerk's head to see if something can be remedied.
Don't yell, be defensive, or be rude to the staff.
Speak clearly and nicely to any and all individuals you may have to speak to with your request.
Acknowledge that you made a mistake, if you have, and politely ask for what you want.

You may still get a "no" depending on the situation... however, at least you asked and made an effort to resolve it. Sometimes we assume we have to accept what someone says without question. At minimum, if you ask, and the response is still no... and you are not satisfied you can always go above someone else's head as well.

However, it never hurts to ask, and see if something can be worked out. If you are reasonable and rational towards others in your requests, I can't say that I would think you would meet with any problems.

Try it... The worst thing that could happen ? They could say No... that's not so bad and at least you tried.