I’ll never forget a road trip with my family in 1999. It was one of the most emotional trips I had ever faced in my life. We had traveled all the way to Mississippi to say goodbye to one of my closest friends who had passed away unexpectedly. On our way home, we had stopped at a popular pizza franchise to have a meal, and the comment was made while we were eating, that this particular pizza joint was, and I quote, “The worst one in the whole world!!!”
To this day, we still have a good laugh at having been privileged enough to eat at the WORST pizza place in the entire world! Which leads me to my thought for the day. We should probably avoid using extreme words and phrases like this, and here are my reasons:
- Perspective. Really? When you claim to have had the worst day because they got your order wrong at your favorite restaurant, and to top it all off, your high-speed internet wasn’t, well, very high speed, does that really mean that this is officially the worst day ever? Remember, someone, somewhere always has it worse than you do.
- Disrupts Your Emotional Balance. There are enough variables throughout our busy days that can cause our emotions to swing from one extreme to the next, without us having to sabotage our own emotions with using these extreme words. Is it really the worst? Is it really the best?
- Confuses Those That Are Around You. Whether it’s a spouse, co-worker, or even more significantly, your children. When we use these extreme words, especially in a negative context, it can really be confusing to those that are around us. It creates an unnecessary conflict in their world view.
- Hinders Change. I heard it said once, don’t let a bad moment turn into a bad day. Clearly, as quickly as your day spun out of control in a bad, catastrophic way, it could that quickly be changed by a loving phone call or text.
So, as we carry on with yet another day, remember to keep things in perspective, and yes, all in one moment it can be “the best of times, and the worst of times”.