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Thursday, September 4, 2008

The Law of the Garbage Truck

I love this analogy of "The Garbage Truck" that I heard a few years ago. It is a great way to deal with challenging people that we come across in our lives. And don't we all have some of those!

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.

My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'

This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.' He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so .... 'Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.'

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

A little "blurb" about this blog and its author:

My parents told me that the first feedback they received from my kindergarten teacher about me was that I was "verbally gifted." I'm pretty sure that was code for "she talks too much" but my parents took it as a compliment and encouraged my special skill (ha ha). Those who know me can tell you that I still love to talk. Well, writing is like talking on the computer so that is why I love blogging.

I write about whatever is on my mind... spiritual stuff, education, marriage, parenting, scouting, holidays, crafts, challenges, life experiences and whatever else happens to fly from my brain to my fingertips at the moment.

Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope it strengthens you in some way.

If you need to reach me, please email pamthemom@gmail.com and allow one week for me to respond to requests.