We did. Didn't cheer for one side or the other. I'm happy for the (insert team who won) and their fans. Better luck next year for (insert team who lost) and be proud of how far you made it this season.
We watched for the ads, the pre-show stuff, the halftime show. We even fast forwarded for part of the actual game.
Christina Ag-yoo-lair-ah screwed up. She missed words and then flubbed another line.
Dallas screwed up as a host city. 400 fans were denied their seat because the fire marshall hadn't approved the temporary seating. There was a flyover after the anthem- over a closed dome. There were entrances to the stadium that remained closed after ice fell from the roof. The closures caused the lines to get into the stadium to last 3 hours for some folks. The city's repsonse to the weather has been critized for impacting traveler trying to get into the city.
The sound for the half time show wasn't great. Lights were out on the "love" stage.
You get the picture.
Here's what I noticed on Facebook...
"Christina SUCKED."
"Black Eyed Peas SUCKED."
"These ads are funny. Except that one- it SUCKED."
Again, you get the picture.
For some reason, I was feeling more sensitive to it all, I guess.
Christina... You know, I've messed up the words when I have them written in front of my face. I've also psyched myself out so I don't sing as well I usually can. I've recognized that my brain has changed after having kids- it doesn't work nearly as well as it used to. Personally, I thouht she sounded great but made a mistake.
And it hit me- what would the day be like if I focused on the positive and worked on being generally understanding about things instead of jumping on the negatory bandwagon?
It's something I kind of already do... I've worked on learning to let things go. There are things that it would be easy to bitch and complain about... things that I could huddle in a corner in the office and whisper about. There are people at work who come to my office to "vent." And by vent, I just mean talk trash about someone else. I'm good at not going down that path but still being receptive to the frustration or anger that person is expressing.
But what if I took it a step further? What if I could not just not be negative... but purposefully Be Positive?
So that's my challenge- to you and to myself. Today, Monday, one of the hardest days of the work week, I'm going to focus on responding with positivity. I'm going to think more about the person on the other side of the situation. I'm going to not just avoid the negative but purposefully put positive into the mix.
Be genuine. Affirm a person's feelings. But avoid the negative. And go for the positive. What happens if we spread positivity and understanding and compassion all over the place today?
Can you do it?
10 comments:
Great idea, Liz. I can't agree with you more. It would be a pleasant relief to hear the positive side of life for a change.
I agree with you Liz. The negative that we hear brings us down even when we don't want it to! I will join you in your positivity on this Monday morning.
Last week the same type of thought hit me when a really annoying person was talking to me. My usual response is to brush him off, and then I realized that my attitude wasn't very loving. I am trying!
You're so right. Negativity is like a virus.
I didn't watch any of it so I'm just reading bits and pieces all over the internet. If I'm really bored later, I may just look for videos.
I'm going to post my monthly Positive Things for January this week--have you been playing along?
I was surprised at the beginning of your post. We watched the whole thing and I thought it was a great game! Of course, I didn't pay close attention to Christina, and hadn't caught much about the logistics, so I guess ignorance truly is bliss.
This is another example of how information overload doesn't help our lives as much as we might think. I mean, how does it really affect me whether or not I know people had to wait in line 3 hours? Sucks for them, but there are more important things for me to waste my worries on, y'know?
BTW, the Packers won, and it was an interesting game all the way through. I have to agree with you on the halftime show--looked like a good one, if only we could have heard it!
I've been trying to be mindful of this for the past few months and while I still fall short many times, it HAS made a difference. My major downfall seems to be that I'm not yet strong enough to hold strong in my positivity when in the company of someone negative. But I try, and I also use the situation to remind myself that I don't want my negativity to bring down those around them.
Great post, Liz.
Complaining is like vomitting--afterwards you feel better but everyone around feels worse.
I too am working on acknowledging the positive instead of the negative these days. Just letting it go.
Love it, Liz, a great challenge for today!
Can I? Yes.
Will I? No.
Can he? Yes.
Did he? Yes. At least in the eyes of his wife...
Great idea--There's so much negativity in the world. Thanks for linking this up!
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