Try a little tenderness

Why can't we be friends?

I’m not a mean person. But sometimes I can be a little…impatient. It’s been a trying week and I can feel myself ramping up some low grade, all-purpose annoyance. So I’m making a concerted effort to be nice. I came to this decision after I kind of let loose on the City of Austin 311 operator over some parking issues I thought were ludicrous. It’s not her fault I had to move my car, but I did ask to speak directly to the Transportation Department, so it was her choice not to connect me and take my call instead.

I think we all get like this, and whether you are trapped in an office with other folk or interacting with clients, there comes a time when you have to just put it aside and get along with people. When I’m feeling like this and need to dial back the sarcasm, I take a tip from the FLK (Funny Looking Kitty), my Receptionist and Director of Fun Times. The FLK is an eternal opimist. Remember in “Rocky” how Mickey told Rock he was going to eat lightening and crap thunder? Well, I think the FLK eats sunshine and craps rainbows. All this while living with the New Mean Kitty, who does indeed take after Rocky.

When I need to turn myself around, I start small and be a little extra nice to people who are easy to be nice to. This week I had a surplus of bruisy bananas and so I made a ton of muffins–and took a few extras to a client. That felt okay, so I gave some to another client. Feeling more passably human, I did a favor for a friend. And I just agreed to take on a rather large volunteer job over the weekend that is going to be stressful, but I know the outcome will make me feel good.

So the next time you wrangle with your inner 13-year old girl and want to roll your eyes and slam the door to your room, supress that urge and do one nice thing. It will make you feel better, and by the end of the day you might just be crapping some rainbows.