It's Just Water

A small basement flood reminds me of this post of 4 years ago (Yeah, this blog is nearly 5 years old). Not much significant was lost. Most of what needs to be tossed are items I really should not have anymore anyway ... bonus in all of this is we will have a spanking clean basement.

Here's the post from February 14, 2007:

One Friday at 5:10pm, trying to get my two boys into the car so I can get them to the "drop and flop" (my nickname for the halfway meeting location) for their weekend with their dad. As we are rushing out the door, Jacob knocks over a full glass of water.

Water goes EVERYWHERE!
Jacob's face bursts into tears.
Matthew has this look of terror on his face
("Oh man, mom is going to FREAK!").

My reaction:
"WOW! You know, I needed to clean the floor and you just helped me out. It is OK. Let's clean this up together."

I cannot tell you the joy that came over Jacob's face.

It would have been quite easy for me to "FREAK" and point out how we were going to be even more late. It was so much better for us all to just stop, each grab a towel, wipe up the floor and leave the house happy.....not to mention our floor was a bit cleaner.

Next time something out of control happens, think about the choice you have in your reaction.

Does your reaction help the situation you are in?
You have a split moment to choose a positive outcome.

How has your positive reaction changed the outcome of a bad situation?