The Weather Wimp

It was insta-freeze, frost-bite, north pole cold outside. Inside, it was about the same temperature as a fridge. The meat shop where I worked had Mexico-grade insulation—that is, practically none.

She was a middle-aged woman in a nice coat, carrying her car keys and buying a ring of farmer sausage. “Did you find everything you needed?” I asked. My fingers danced over the keypad of the till.

She set her purse on the counter and rubbed the crease between her eyes. “It’s miserable outside,” she said. I looked up, dull-eyed. She was only the umpteenth person to say that, and she didn’t have to tell me how cold it was. I’d walked to work that morning.

I sent her out the door and turned around. Amanda, my long-suffering coworker, eyed me.

“I hate when they say that,” I said. “I feel like saying ‘No, you’re miserable outside.”

She cracked a smile. “Yeah, weather doesn’t have feelings.”

I have to admit that on such a bone-chilling morning I don’t want to go outside either. But if weather is all it takes to hijack my good day, well, I won’t have many good days.

Ken Blanchard said “I go out into the world every day with the attitude that my ‘OKness’ is not for grabs”. And I like to repeat the quote “there is no bad weather, only bad clothing”. The point is that we have the power to control our attitude and even, to a great degree, our mood.

This is tough for me because I tend to pick up my moods by osmosis, rather like a thermometer that can only read the temperature of the room. It’s hard to be cheerful when those around me are not. Thus, I often grit my teeth, say ‘I will not be like you’, and just tough out a lousy scenario. Maybe I can find the humor in it.  But if I can’t be cheerful at least I won’t contribute to the misery of others.

My basic idea is that my life-situation, the task of the day, the weather, or my health will not determine my OKness. It is adherence to the overriding principles governing my life (in this case, my faith) that determines my ‘OKness’.

I know. There is such a thing as a bad scenario, just like there is such a thing as bad weather. But in between the extremes, life is made up of events that can go either way. So, is your OKness for grabs?