I really do prefer to "Play Nice"

It’s so hard to keep a positive outlook on life when people get in the way, don’t you think? Sometimes I wonder if I would be happy all of the time - if I lived in a secluded part of the world, just me, my Katie and my Ella (oh, and my blog friends. I’d have to take you guys with us.) Yes, I think we’d all be pretty happy.

I had a cranky day today, which I find really frustrating since I’ve been trying so hard to live a "happy life". Today, situations outside of my control made me very aggravated. I felt like I was in the middle in a bunch of "not nice games" all day long. Not fun games (like Yahtzee or Uno.) No, these were "not nice games". I don’t like playing “not nice games". I prefer to play nice.

So, I was in a foul mood for most of the day.

Sitting at my desk at work, I could feel my eyebrows slanting down towards the middle of my face, and the frown lines taking shape on the sides of my mouth. I could feel the tension in my shoulders and neck, and I felt the blood pressure rise (that’s never a good thing.) It was almost as if people didn’t realize that I’m "living a happy life." Maybe I need to send a big ol'mass mailing out to every person in the world, advising, “Listen, folks. Leanne is living a Happy Life. Don’t mess with her.”

I’ll have to work on that.

I knew today was going to be an off day. It started as I walked Katie to the bus this morning. One of the neighborhood kids ran far ahead of his mom and quickly crossed the street to the bus stop without looking both ways. He came within just a few feet of a car heading in his direction. Luckily, the approaching car was moving slowly and cautiously, so the driver was able to stop well in advance of any tragedy. I could see it happening though, and when the little boy arrived to my side, I warned him that he really could have been hurt badly and he needs to be mindful of the road and make sure to look both ways before crossing. The boy, who usually is o.k. with me, turned and said, "I'm not talking to you." and turned his back towards me.

I'm not a fan of spankings, but have you ever wanted to haul off and smack somebody before?

Right then and there, I knew that this was going to be a challenging day.

Yet I would not let this 6-yr old get the best of me!!! I said, "Excuse me???" just as his mother made it to the group. After being scolded by his mom, I received dirty looks from the little crapper (affectionate term, of course) for the remaining 3 minutes, as we waited for the bus. I wanted so badly to stick my tongue out at him, but that really wouldn't have solved anything, would it have? (hmmmm . . . maybe tomorrow.)

My day went from bad to worse, and in my own little mind, I imagined sticking my tongue out to 4 or 5 people throughout the day. Augh.

I'm really trying to live a happy life.

I came home to this . . .

And for the first time all day, I felt . . . happy. Really happy.

How do you pull yourself out of a cranky mood, when you really don’t want to be in one?