I've talked about my love for Dale Carnegie in one of my very first posts. The 12-week course stretched me both professionally and personally but the 5th class was one that 'changed my life'. Sounds so dramatic but it's the truth. I won't go into complete details because that may bore you but it involved yelling at the top of your lungs and speaking with conviction. Specifically saying "I know people in a rut that are going to stay in rut. Why? Because they don't use their ability to get things done." Simple statement that smacked me right in the face. As I spoke this phrase with conviction, I realized I was talking about myself. At that time, life was not going how I wanted it to and that was the moment I decided to take action. If I was unhappy, I needed to do something. Not someone else. This involved major life changes like quitting my job and relocating back to Saskatoon... It took 7 months before it all came to fruition but I got out of my rut. (I actually won an award that night in class. The Crashing Through Award. I think it was well deserved) Now let's come back to present day. This morning I was in a funk...actually, I've been in a bit of a funk for the past week and a bit (could be longer). I've been super testy, emotional, and short with people. I'd like to blame it all on the joys of being a woman, but I can't. I've been making the choice to be like this so I have nothing or no one to blame, but myself. As I sat at my desk, I thought back to that Dale Carnegie class, this is how the conversation in my head went

Alex, you're making a choice to be in this miserable place. Quit acting like a child and smarten up. Uhh, nope. It's not my problem, it's theirs (whoever that is). Fine, be like that. Fine, I will. Why are you being like this? Because, I can.

After that ridiculous and childish dialogue with myself, I went to Starbucks. I continued the inner battle on whether or not I should make the simple choice to choose joy/positivity/etc or to continue living in a funk. I waited in line at Starbucks, trying to figure out what to order. All I really wanted was one of the chocolate covered pretzels. 90% of the time they don't have any so I made a deal with myself. IF they had a pretzel, I would get over myself, stop being a whiney baby and be happy!  Well, I looked over and what did I see...

I laughed a little and then made good on my bet.  All because of a silly pretzel, I decided to stop living in my funk.

Everyone has their days and if today is one of those days for you, I challenge you to get out of your rut. Figure out what you need to do to in order to get out, and do it. It may be hard (it took me 3 months before I gained the courage to make the change, so I understand!) but in the end it's totally worth it!

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