Don't Be A Debbie Downer...

So here is the situation… I just finished up my ‘101 in 1001’ list and I am super excited about it. I am mentioning it in conversations and filling people in on what it all means. A few days ago at work I was talking with one of my clients about vitamins and how I am terrible at taking them and that I need to get into a routine, and so on. He gives me his two cents on how I can be more consistent and things I can do to help remember. Fast-forward 2 days… I remembered to take my vitamins! I was so excited and I told my client about it, we high fived and all was great. Then I mentioned my list and this is how the conversation went:

  Me: “It means a lot to me to be able to do this b/c it is a goal of mine. I actually am doing this really neat thing by setting 101 goals in 1001 days… and taking a multi-vitamin everyday was one of the goals” (and you can hear the excitement in my voice… I swear)

Client: “What?! That’s WAY too many goals over WAY too long of time, you’ll never finish.”

Me: “Nah, I’m really excited about it… it will be good.” (trying not to sound annoyed at this point)

Client: “No, no, no… you just need to set 10 goals. 5 easy and 5 hard… that way you might actually get some accomplished.”

Me: (Inside my head...) What!?! Why would you discourage me from setting goals!

And this is MY two cents… don’t be a Debbie Downer. Don’t rain on somebody’s parade just because you think you know what’s better. Don't let the first thing out of your mouth be a negative comment... it often hurts more than people know (no matter how small the topic is!). My client's comment hurt my feelings and I almost instantly became defensive... he made me feel like I had a foolish plan. So again, don't be a Debbie Downer... nobody likes to be around her! Life is too short to focus on the negative aspect of everything. 

So...

lighten up...

allow people to be excited...

sometimes you do need to keep your opinions to yourself...

be an encourager instead of a 'nay-sayer'...

slow down and listen to what people are saying...

be gentle. be joy. be peace.

That's just my two cents...

Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

 ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.