Although our emotions are part of the natural order of things, I’m always interested in ways to help people work with them effectively and thought I’d share the following.
My youngest was about to head off on holiday and bought some shorts online, paying extra for next day delivery in case he needed to return them and get something else before departure. My wife and I were unaware of this purchase until he asked, “has a parcel arrived for me?”, when he got home late from work on delivery day. No parcel.
We asked what he was waiting for and he shared the story… and also that if they hadn’t arrived today it would be too late to change them for something else. I could see he was both annoyed at paying for a service he hadn’t received and disappointed he might now not have enough outfits for his trip so I asked him what he was going to do when they did arrive?
“I’ll just like them”.
I love that. When it’s not life threatening, commit to make an early and optimistic decision and save precious mental capacity while things play out for something more important. A lesson for us all in what I think are known as first world problems.
The shorts eventually arrived the day before he left and his optimism was rewarded as he did really like them 😊
If you’re interested in receiving our monthly Insights sign up here
