The Best Thing that's Ever Happened to Me!

Hello beautiful friends!

I'm going to gift you one of my coping mechanisms that I have had to use a whole hecking lot lately! Now, I want you to know that this is only for incredibly imaginative minds. It does take a lot of brain power.  Phew. Anyhow, here goes. 

THIS is the BEST thing that's EVER HAPPENED to ME!!!

Yup, that's it. No frills. That is my affirmation. I'll tell you when I first used it for rills. I had been reading a fantastically wonderful book called "Thank and Grow Rich" by Pam Grout. She is actually the one who recommends this strange exercise in her book. I read it and chuckled, because 90% of her suggestions sound absolutely bonkers until you sincerely try them in  your life, and then you humbly say "Oh, I'll be quiet now and let the magic work."  And, the reason she suggests this is because she is trying to get you to be grateful for things that other, mediocre, miserable people totally miss because they are so focused on what they are not grateful for. I think this exercise  is meant to BLAST your brain into gratitude mode.

Oh, yes. The first time I affirmed this. 

So, I was way out in my favorite place in this whole universe, the Oregon Coast. It's super easy to affirm that "It's the best thing that's ever happened to me." when I'm out in those misty, gray, rocky shores nestled next to forests and mountains. *sigh* This would have been two years ago, and I had just barely taken all of my inventory way out to the other end of the country and set it up at the Ohio Renaissance Festival. We had finished our first weekend, and I was so pleased and excited about my crew of girls out there working and representing my company. Life was good. 

Then, my booth manager called. It's funny, because we rehearsed this beforehand. I told her that if she had bad news for me, she  just needed to start off the call with, "Michelle....you are very beautiful." and then launch into the details of what had gone wrong. So, here we were. I was very beautiful.....BUT, 80 mph winds and torrential rains had ripped my tent down and the center pole was sticking out through a huge hole in the roof and one of the wall poles was bent into a U-shape and most of the corsets were on the ground and sopping wet. Holy night. 

And guys, I just need to let you know that this isn't some little EZ UP tent. I KNOW that festivals eat those for breakfast. This was a $4000 brand new tent that is the kind you see outside of car dealerships. It's meant to be a temporary, commercial grade structure for outdoor weather. And Ohio STILL ate it for breakfast!  Anyhow, right there, in that red hot moment, I still said to myself- "This is the best thing that's ever happened to me." I didn't feel it. I was actually really pissed off that the very notion.  BUT, it made my brain get to work. When you say something jarring like that, your brain automatically starts to ask "Why would this possibly be the best thing that's ever happened to me??" .

I calmed down really quickly. I thought, "Well, this is rehearsal for any calamity.  This is training for me to communicate better with my Ohio crew. This is good that it happened so early in the show, so that we can figure out a more secure option for the next 7 weekends. This is a WONDERFUL opportunity for me to just sit and be powerless in a situation and let other people step in and help me....which I hate....and it's good for me. And....now that I think about it, the corsets will dry, I am supported and loved, and there is no reason for me to NOT expect that this will all go wonderfully."

Literally, the next second, I got another call. We had EASILY found another company to come and set up a tent. They said that they would give it to us for $800 rental for the whole next 8 weeks (that is so cheap, I'm still blown away!! Holy heck. The last tent rental I did in another city was $2000 for one weekend. yeah.) They would be there to set it up that day, AND all of the wet corsets had been hung up in the branches of the tree next to us, so we had this amazingly colorful corset tree that my girls sent me a picture of!  It was all smoothed over and I went back to relaxing. 

That is the sheer, raw power of mindset.  That is the power of "This is the best thing that's ever happened to me."  I lovingly suggest that you try to use this the next time you are in the worst day of your life...or something's gone terribly wrong. Or....better yet, just breathe into it and, use it when you are having a wonderful, clear, happy day. Either way, the power of gratitude is unmatched in this universe, I'm convinced. And I'm grateful for that. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me.