The bad mood lifted in Lubbock
During my month long business trip to Lubbock, Texas my mood shifted as much as the local weather. It could be 80 degrees and a few hours later 40 degrees cooler.
I could be going along content or energized and then just as quickly, wish I was out of this town and feel miserable.
Of course these mood swings could also happen at home but that’s beside the point!
One particular morning I was in a down mood.
I had some errands to do before I needed to be at work. One of them was going to the post office to send a package.
I was happy to see they had one of those automated tellers they do in the post offices I go to (it being Lubbock I wasn’t sure how far along they were with government technology!)
There was an older woman in front of me who wasn’t really familiar with how to use this automated system. My bad mood made my impatience stronger.
However, instead of stewing inside I decided to help her along. Really I did it so she could get out of my way and I could take care of what I needed.
But she thanked me and moved on.
I then went to my rental car which was a white 4 door Altima. I went to unlock the door and it wouldn’t unlock.
I looked up and this same woman was at another car, also a white 4 door Altima. She couldn’t get in her car.
She had gone to the wrong car so I naturally went to the other car, which was really her car but since she was at my car which she thought was her car, I though her car was my car!
It was like the Agatha Christie novel where the wrong person was murdered at a dinner party because after everyone came back from dancing, someone sat in the wrong seat and everyone followed suit without realizing because they were in the same order. (Then the poor soul who was in the wrong seat drank some poison).
I laughed with this woman and also told her the Agatha Christie story.
As I drove away I realized I wasn’t in a bad mood anymore. The interaction I had with her shifted my mood. Yes, I still wanted to get out of town but somehow the morning was more tolerable.
Recognizing my mood can shift anywhere:
• Allows me to be true to my feelings
• Makes me understand it’s not where I am which creates my mood.
• Is comforting and disconcerting at the same time to realize I could be happy or miserable anywhere!
Interactions with people will change my mood. In this case, in a town I didn’t particularly want to be, my mood was lifted.