Rebranding

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?