Ever hang out with someone and when you’re done you feel really good, happy, positive? Ever wonder why? Ever look back and think about how the visit went? I count myself super fortunate because I’ve got a ton o’ people like that in my life, and a while back my wife and I started talking about why certain people were like a battery recharger. It’s not because they understand, or have similar interests, or agree with us, or any of the traditional things people associate with friendship. It always seems to be because these people find a way to genuinely see the positive in just about everything. My parents were always like that. Crashed my bike dad. “Well you got the annual crash out of the way, so now you relax the rest of the year”. It’s always so COLD in Alberta. “Ain’t it awesome? We got mountains, prairie, lots of untouched wilderness, hospitable people, a good economy; thank god for the horrible cold or every sap in the world would want to live here” That’s what I mean, but it’s not all. Some people just always are genuinely interested in what you have to say, what you’ve been doing, how it’s going, especially the details. They’re genuinely excited to hear about your latest adventure. I have a good friend that is the epitome of positive energy. I joke that if he met an axe murderer, the conversation would go like this:
“So what do you do for a living?”
“I kill people and chop them up.”
“Really!? I’ve never met anyone that did that! I always wondered, do you sharpen your own axes?”
“Nope, got to get them professionally done.”
“Well yes, I guess it would be ton of work with dull axes, good thinking!”
Ok, so obviously it’s a ridiculous joke but you get the idea. When you leave you feel good and positive and it spreads a little. Imagine if it spread everywhere, to everyone around you, everyone you know. How great would THAT be! The other day I saw a quote that said “Be a fountain, not a drain” (author unkown to me) I thought it was perfect, had to put it on my wall. That’s what these people are; a fountain, and it spreads to everyone around them; it attracts positive people to them; and it’s a big positive snowball.
So I think I’m going to focus alot on that. Being a fountain.
