Posts Tagged: keeping a sweet attitude

KEEPING A SWEET ATTITUDE IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS  

On August 17, 2016 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

 

Keeping a sweet attitude in difficult situations is not easy.  However, it is very important.

Last night, the dish guy didn’t show up to work his shift.  My manager made a bunch of calls, but nobody could/would come in.

So, I volunteered.  Fortunately, I had only worked at that job for an hour, when my manager pulled me off.  “We need you on the floor, serving,” he said.  I didn’t argue!  I have a lot more appreciation for dish people now.

Sure enough, we were very busy in the dining room, with a lot of guests.  The whole evening was like that, until about forty-five minutes before closing time, when we went fairly dead.

Then, there was a massive amount of bussing, out-work, and silverware to do.  By the time this sixty-five-year-old body was out the door at 10:20, it was aching from the waist down.

But I think (hope?) that I kept a sweet attitude in all this.  That is important for a number of reasons.

A sweet attitude honors the guests.  They should be made to feel appreciated, no matter how busy or stressful or chaotic things are for me/us.  Who knows what they are going through?  Perhaps they’ve recently lost a loved one or a job, maybe they are struggling with depression, or they may have just had a really stressful day themselves.  A caring and calm attitude on my part may help turn their evenings around.

A sweet attitude may be helpful to my fellow food service folks.  Getting out of sorts with guests, with my coworkers, or myself is dishonoring to those I work with.  Just as with our guests, I don’t know what they are struggling with, either.  I know my own problems and struggles.  I should suspect that my coworkers have their own problems and struggles, which may be far worse than my own little issues.

A sweet attitude honors myself.  I feel worse when I become stressed and crabby.  Why should I do something that makes me feel even worse?

Finally, keeping a sweet attitude honors God.  If God lovingly accepts me as I am, with all my past horrendous sins and crimes against humanity, if God lovingly accepts me now, with all my only-too-real failings, then why shouldn’t my attitude be sweet?

Oh, don’t get me wrong: It isn’t easy.  It isn’t for me, and it isn’t for you.  Sweet fruit is not native to my personal climate.  It probably takes a lot of cultivation and nurturing in your soul-garden as well.  The only thing I can do is to continually pray that God will nurture a sweet spirit within me, and expect God to come through.  But the desire to have a sweet spirit is at least a beginning.

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