Sometimes my mood can get the best of me. And sometimes my
mood isn’t the best. So in an effort to include more positivity in my life, and
get back to the optimistic Aulani that once was (granted optimistic Aulani was
just a few steps away from completely naïve Aulani, but we’re still giving this
a shot so bear with me), I have decided to do “rebranding” in my life. It goes
something like this…
“Oh hi there old man driving the Crown Vic who decided to
switch lanes without looking. That was an impressive
(see what I did there?) move. Yes. Impressive.”
Or…
“That comment was
hurtful. So I’m going to go ahead and chalk that up to you not thinking before
you spoke, but not actually intending to make me feel bad. I am rebranding you
as “unaware” instead of “intentionally spiteful.”
Alright, so sometimes my “rebranding” sounds remarkably similar
to sarcasm and naivety… but right now, I think that’s what I need to do to
remain optimistic. Intentionally oblivious? Maybe. Effective? Absolutely.
Here’s what I mean…
As much as I love people and wholeheartedly admit that my
quality of life is significantly raised because of specific humans that are in
my life, all people are flawed. Now I realize this is not a shocking discovery.
We all know this because we have experienced it… and most notably for me, I
have experienced it in myself. I am acutely aware of my own BIG, FAT,
EMBARRASING flaws. And although some are dainty and harmless... quite a few
others are deep, dark and ominous.
But as much as I am 100% broken and flawed, I am also 100%
lovable. I know this, because God said so (and also it would be incredibly
devastating to not believe so). So. If I, completely clumsy, deeply flawed,
mistake making me, am 100% lovable than I KNOW every human on this planet is
also 100% lovable. And if I expect to be loved despite my flaws, shouldn’t I at
least afford a similar courtesy to others? (P.S. I have rebranded “flaw” as “opportunity
to improve”)
But this is a lot harder than it sounds. Like, A LOT. And
that is why I am choosing to rebrand situations in an effort to give the
benefit of the doubt to the flawed, broken, lovable people that I encounter.
And it’s actually become kind of fun. I giggle to myself at
the kind of rebranding statements I can slap onto seemingly disturbing, downward
spiraling situations. Although some rebrands are more challenging than others,
spending my efforts trying to creatively infuse positivity into a situation are
much better efforts spent than being angry, frustrated, spiteful, scornful, and
other ugly words that I would like to eliminate from my life.
Well there it is. I originally hesitated on sharing this
information with family and friends because now I will have accountability for
my fun little rebranding activity, and Aulani doesn’t always like
accountability (even though Aulani desperately needs it). Note: Subtleties are
appreciated if at all possible.
So help me out with “Project Infuse Positivity” and I give
you full permission to adapt my rebranding technique. This world could
definitely use all the positivity we can muster, so why not spend our energies
cultivating a more lovable world for the beautifully flawed people who live in
it?
