In this 3 min pep talk:
How I handle the outtakes and crap moments in life, and how I think my approach can help you too.
Can’t listen right now? That’s OK.
Read the transcript of this podcast episode below:
Hey mate,
So, I was in Sydney for a bit of media. I was walking through North Sydney, on the hunt for a coffee. The rain was hammering down around me and I was in a hurry.
Earlier, I’d been at the Today Show talking about my book Happy and other ridiculous aspirations, and I had a full day of events and interviews planned. So, I was in a good mood.
I was excited to be talking about the book, and I felt pretty cool because I was wearing this sick new outfit, I’d just met The Wiggles and I had my hair and makeup done. You know, all the important stuff 😂.
So there I am, hustling down the street when my new sneakers, dazzling white and about as slippery as a buttered balloon, slide through a rivulet of rainwater and I go F-L-Y-I-N-G.
Not a small “lost my balance and stumbled” sort of trip. Like a big, cartwheeling, scene-causing, ass-over-head fall.
No joke, I think I flipped about twice before landing smack on my back, a bit winded, with a huge graze on my knee.
I was absolutely mortified.
Several people rushed to my aid and helped me up and, feeling super rattled, I started to cry.
But I looked over at my colleague Grace, who had been walking with me, and saw that she was doubled over in hysterical laughter.
She was laughing so much she could barely get the words “Are you OK?” out of her mouth without snorting.
So, I had a choice to make.
I could either cry, and feel embarrassed and let it put a dampener on my day, or I could laugh it off.
I chose to laugh.
I cleaned myself up. I got my coffee and I went on with my day.
So, why tell you this mildly embarrassing story?
Because I want to say this: while bad, annoying, frustrating and embarrassing things will happen to us from time to time, we always have a choice in how we react, yeah?
From the small stuff, like tripping over on the street, to the bigger stuff – we get to choose how we want to respond.
In last week’s case, the choice was pretty easy to make.
I wanted to feel better, I needed to feel better so I could get through my interviews, and there was an easy strategy to help me do that – I could laugh it off with Grace.
Now, choosing the response that make me feel better, uplifted, happier – that’s usually the way I choose to respond.
But sometimes it can be really refreshing to say to yourself “You know what, today is really crappy, and I’m not going to try and turn it around. I’m just going to accept it, and know that tomorrow will probably be better.”
You know, there’s this expectation that every day we’re gonna wake up and be super happy and super energised and super motivated, and that if we don’t feel that way there must be something wrong with us.
But just as we have days that are awesome, fascinating and extraordinary, we have days that are just boring, draining and frustrating.
That’s just life.
So, next time things don’t go as planned at work, or something crappy happens –
or you go flying through the rainy streets of North Sydney –
know that you have a choice in how you respond.
Whatever choice you make – either to make yourself feel better, or to wallow a bit – is OK.
Either option is fine! But know that you get to make that choice.
You’re in control.
I think that’s a really empowering thing to realise.
Turia x
