Happiness is Just Around the Corner

In the midst of any negative situation, I wish I could remember that happiness is just around the corner. Things always get good again.

My morning routine is: shut off the alarm, turn on the TV to see what the weather will be like, get up, start the coffee, get dressed and ready then have coffee and a breakfast bar while checking my email.

This morning I noticed one of my “beauty products” was running low and remembered an email I received from Origins offering free shipping. When I got to the computer, I opened that email. The offer of free shipping included a cute tote bag. Groove on! After visiting several pages and reading about different products, I ordered my beauty enhancing face cream. At check out I saw free shipping for X dollars, which was less than my total, so I didn’t even go back to get the offer code from my email. I forgot all about the tote bag until I signed out of AOL, the Origins email was open with the cute tote bag staring me in the face. Dang! No time to rectify it then, I had to leave for school.

I was disappointed with myself for being such a doofenschmertz. In between my two jobs I called Origins to see if they could fix my order. The girl checked for me and said it was already in process and couldn't be changed but she could cancel it and I could reorder. I told her about the offer code and forgotten tote bag to see if that could just be added to the order. Her first response was, "Oh that offer expired on April 4th." I told her that the email I got said the offer was extended until April 5th. Then I laughed and said, "But today is the 7th, isn't it." She agreed and then offered to ask her supervisor if they could add the tote bag, just this once. When she came back on the phone she told me the tote bag would be included. I laughed again. That was a pleasant surprise and made me very happy.

At my first job I asked our insurance liaison if there would be a problem with my insurance if I go part-time. She said I would have to work 20 hours a week to keep it and I'd have to pay for it myself. The school pays for full-time employees. I was feeling uneasy about the situation and thought of a former superintendent who now works at another school in our area. I also have a friend who works for him. I wrote Amy an email telling her about my job situation and wondering if her librarian was going to retire. To my surprise she wrote back and said, yes, their librarian was retiring and I should contact Ernest to let him know I'm interested in working for him again. New possibilities changed my mood from nervous to excited.

During the last half hour of my second job, an unreasonable woman called and was cranky and almost hateful. I stayed peasant with her but when the call concluded I had a grumpy "How could she be so rude?" conversation with myself. The phone rang again. "What now?" I thought. It was Jeff who used to work with me at the library. He actually called to ask a school related question but it was so good to talk to him. Happy again.

One last closing remark: The negative feelings that are born out of negative situations can be a good thing when they motivate proactive action and become a catalyst for positive change. Happiness really is lurking around the corner, we just need to get around that corner to find it.

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