Creating Best Moments

Around the beginning of July, I became a barista for Starbucks--a company that states in it's training materials that one of its main objectives is to "create best moments" in people's days. This philosophy intrigued me and instantly aligned with what feels like part of my own life's purpose. A person can be having a rough day or mundane day or even a pretty good day, but a kind word and a smile and having a barista recognize you at "your" Starbucks can make any day better. 

This overarching philosophy trickles down to employees and customers alike. I have seen a dozen cars in a row pay for the order of the vehicle behind them, and it is amazing and wonderful every time--for the giver, for the recipient, and for the barista processing the orders. But the love isn't just from barista to customer or customer to customer. The particular crew of people I work with most often are some of the most encouraging and positive people I have ever been around, and they are the very best kind of cheerleaders. There is a pretty steep learning curve when you become a barista, but in my store, there is a constant stream of praise and encouragement and teaching, so you never truly feel discouraged or like a failure, even if you mess up a drink (again!) or spill peach juice everywhere or can't find the right button to push on the order screen. The other baristas and managers will simply step in and assist, gently teaching you so you can do better next time. And they will usually leave you with a "Don't worry; you're doing great!" You will often hear the baristas speaking to each other this way: "You were such a rockstar on bar today!" "You did an amazing job in the drive-thru!" "Thank you so much for taking out the trash/restocking the cups/cleaning the floors!" There are even sticky notes stuck to highly visible surfaces that say, "You are loved!" "You are beautiful!" "You are Valued!" "You are strong!" As a person whose main love language is Words of Affirmation, I find this to be such a motivating and inspiring place to work, and I truly look forward to going to work every single day. 

I am trying to take what I have learned at work and apply it to other parts of my life. When I've seen my 4th grader struggling with homework lately, I've taken to saying things like, "Wow! You did an amazing job getting all your work done!" "You drew that life cycle of the grasshopper like a rockstar!" "Thank you for sitting down to work on this even though you were tired from a long day at school." I can tell you it changes his energy and engagement levels and makes the entire dreadful homework process better for both of us. I am also trying to remember to talk to myself this way. Because the words we speak--out loud and inside our minds--make a difference. 

Working at Starbucks has made me more cognizant of the words I use--with customers, with co-workers, with random strangers, with my friends, with my kids, and with myself. Words matter. And they can absolutely make a difference in whether a person has a bad, average, or best moment during the day. I want to be a creator of best moments for people. I want my interactions with people to leave them feeling happier and lighter than they were before, and maybe even inspire them to create best moments for others. 

Gratitude

Want to know the secret to a happy life? Live each moment of each day in gratitude. That's it. There is nothing more to it. Actively look for things you can be thankful for, no matter how big or small. Make lists of things/people/experiences you are thankful for in your phone. Write them out in a journal. Say them out loud to someone or just to yourself. Ponder them often. When you are feeling disgruntled with a person or situation, conjure up something--anything--to be thankful for about him/her/it. If gratitude is not your default setting, it will not feel natural at first, and your mind will rebel because it's job is to prepare you to deal with problems, not to just sit back and enjoy how good you have it. But when you practice gratitude regularly, your brain will eventually chill out and start to go with it. (But, never fear! It will still be able to help you out with problems when the need arises!) Take a look around at the people you know who truly seem to be happy. I guarantee you they are also the most grateful people you know. 

If you don't already have a regular gratitude practice, here are some of the things that I have implemented (am implementing) that have helped me get in and stay in a thankful mindset:

• I always buy a planner for myself to start the new year that has plenty of room to write on each day. It takes up residence on my bedside table and before I go to bed every night, I write down at least three things from the day or from life in general that I am thankful for. I'm not going to lie, there have been days when all I could come up with was something like, "I'm thankful this day is over!" That still counts! Sometimes I get very specific and sometimes I'm super generalized. Pro tip: It DOES NOT matter what you write. The point is to acknowledge the things you are thankful for--big or small. (And if you can't come up with three, aim for at least one.) I have been doing this for years, and I believe it puts my mind in a peaceful place before bed, and it gives me something tangible to look back during those times when it's more difficult to come up with something. It reminds me there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for! And I think this practice has absolutely made me a happier person. 
• Sometimes when I'm driving to work or on my way to pick up my kids from school, in my car all alone, I speak my gratitude aloud. There is truly something magical about hearing the words out loud. I find this method especially effective when my mind is stubbornly trying to dwell on people or situations I'm annoyed with. It is difficult, if not impossible, to feel both gratitude and frustration at the same time. Thinking and speaking the gratitude simply take up too much brain energy for it to continue to focus on the annoyance. 
• I try (and still need to practice) speaking gratitude to the people I interact with throughout the day--whether that's with a stranger I may never see again, a coworker I'm with every day, or my dearest loved ones who live under my roof. (Note: Those in the last group are sometimes the hardest to show my gratitude to, so I have to be a bit more mindful with them.) If someone holds a door so I can enter, or restocks supplies that make my job easier, or feeds the dog (even if I had to ask them to do it), I try to appreciate the act and acknowledge it to the person. 
• I spend as much time in nature as I can, and I make a point of being grateful for gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, just-right temperatures, beautiful flowers, mesmerizing skies, interesting creatures, breathtaking scenery, quiet places, a rock to rest on, the magic of rainbows, etc. I try to let myself feel awed and to take the time to really see and appreciate the beauty all around me. 

I have by no means perfected the art and grace of living in a state of constant gratitude, but I know for sure when I am in that place, I am happier and more peaceful than when I am not. And I know for sure that a life lived in gratitude is a happy life indeed. 

Inspiration

Rainbows have always been the embodiment of hope, beauty, and magic for me. They are common enough that I don't feel silly looking for them when the conditions are just right but rare enough that, when I do see one, it never fails to stop me in my tracks and fill me with awe and wonder and gratitude. 

A few years ago, while traveling in New Zealand, which was the last stop on an epic, year-long around-the-world trip, I carried many bittersweet feelings with me. And literally every time I moved from one location to another within the country, a rainbow spread across the sky--an exclamation point on that particular part of the journey and a foreshadowing of the beautiful things still unseen. I was aware enough of what was happening to make a note in my journal of an idea worth exploring for my own personal growth: the concept of chasing rainbows. I even had a fleeting thought to create a blog with that name. 

But life got in the way, and the blog was never begun, even though a small piece of paper with the words "Chasing Rainbows" has been sitting on the cabinet beside my laptop all this time. Also during that time, personal growth has been an intense but rather quiet obsession of mine. I have been trying to figure out the things of life worth pursuing and, for me at least, the answer seems to be hope, beauty, and magical moments--the stuff of rainbows. 

I didn't fully appreciate until recently, though, that I hadn't been through enough storms to write a blog about chasing rainbows. Because that's the thing about rainbows: you see them when the sun starts to shine, but they only really ever come after the storm. And the darker the clouds, the brighter the rainbow. Life has given me the opportunity to endure some pretty intense storms in the last year, and I think I can finally truly appreciate the other side of what makes rainbows so special. The sun is starting to shine for me, and it's finally time to move those words "Chasing Rainbows" off of the paper and onto the Internet.

This blog is for me--a reminder of some of the things that have brought me through my own storms and an encouragement in the daily pursuit of those things that provide hope, beauty, and everyday magical moments. But even though I'm posting only for myself, I have come to realize that everyone is walking through their own storm, and maybe someone else needs this space, too. There are plenty of outlets in the world that keep us trapped under the dark clouds but few pointing us to the rainbows. This is a place to seek and find rainbows, and I'd be happy for you to join me on my journey.