An IBM colleague of mine instant messaged me today to tell me that, being inspired by my submissions, he submitted a onesentence.org entry himself—and got published! It’s a good one, especially with Thanksgiving on our heels. It’s called Pay No Attention to the Backhoe Outside.
During the short conversation, he also congratulated me for making the Most Popular from the Last 30 Days list, which I hadn’t even realized. It was the infamous Yes sir, Yes sir, 5 Bags Full entry. Hehehehe.
It is widely known that you see a thing that you’re looking for much more than a thing you’re not looking for.
I remember when I found a car I really liked, but wasn’t sure if I liked the idea of having a white car, which it was. I thought, “Does anyone drive white cars?” The next day, I started looking to see if there were many white cars on the road, and to my amazement saw one at just about every turn. Same with cars with one headlight out. I know when I look for them, I see a ton more than I do when I’m not looking for them.
That brings me to affirmations. I started this blog with the intention of trying to see at least one affirmation daily in my life. (The reason why affirmation only has one “f” in it in my blog name is in my very first posting.)
I started out noticing mostly direct verbal affirmations, such as “I love you,” “You are so much fun to be with,” and “You’re a great guy.” Eventually, however, I started to think more about actions as affirmations, things like these:
- Being included on an invitation.
- Receiving a job offer.
- Being bantered with in an academic exchange.
- Receiving birthday wishes, congratulations, and encouragement.
- Being elected to an office.
- Being asked to co-present with someone at a conference.
- Someone walking quickly to catch up with you after class to talk with you.
- People wanting to get together with you outside of class or work.
So, the more you look, the more you find, and the better you feel about yourself. Works for me.
I’ve had a flurry of affirmations in the last couple of days:
- I was thanked for my contributions in terms of participation, as well as helping to foster a sense of camaraderie and community in a class.
- I was made privy to a portion of a conversation between some people who were told that I was no longer going to be working with them that essentially indicated how disappointed they were, and that I would be missed.
- I was told by a reader of my blog and my home page how much they liked it, and how it really gave them a sense of knowing me though they really hardly know me at all.
I didn’t get as much editing done as I wanted today, but I did finish one for Christie.
Verbal Data Analysis class flew by tonight with only three of the four scheduled presentations getting done.
I went to Helios afterwards, where I witnessed some people playing cards. As long as I’ve been going there, and as often as I do, I have never seen anyone playing cards there before. They do have a chess board, and I have seen people play it, and in fact, a couple was playing that tonight, too.
The card game reminded me of how much I love to play cards, and how long it’s been since I have. I heard one of the people at the table, who evidently was learning the game ask, “Do the aces go around?” As much of a card player as I am, I’ve never heard this expression, but surmised that it meant, like in Rummy, can you use QKA as well as A23. I googled the phrase, but didn’t get a hit.
I did a little STC “work” while at Helios—not the kind I’m fond of, but I tried to do it respectfully. It’s all part of being a leader.
I headed home just before Helios’ midnight closing.