Choose amazing

I have a problem.

When it's extremely hot outside, I become a repeater.

The phrasing may vary from "It's hot," "It's so hot out here," to "I'm hot," but one thing's for sure, it's always repeated.

Last weekend the temperatures soared.  With the heat index, at times it felt like 105 degrees.

Even our friends who were visiting from South Carolina thought it was hot and that's saying something when you're from South Carolina.

Unfortunately, I couldn't stop myself from complaining and repeating since we spent most of the weekend outdoors.

I had to be annoying our guests.  I know I was annoying myself. And then, I remembered a story.

Recently, I noticed a friend wearing a "hair tie" on his wrist.

Since he has more of a buzz cut than enough hair for a man bun, I figured he was holding on to it for his wife.

Later he explained that the coated rubber band served a purpose.

Every time he has a negative thought, he pops the band against his wrist to "snap out of it."

As the blistering sun beat on my face, I considered putting a hair tie around my wrist to snap myself every time I moaned, "It's hot."

But, I quickly realized my wrists would become raw and bloody. And when it comes to pain, I'm also a repeater and no one would have wanted to hear about that.

So I devised a new plan focusing on positivity.

Every time I said something about the heat, I replaced the word "hot" with "amazing."

Suddenly, I was repeating, "It's an amazing day!" "It's amazing out here." "What an amazing day."

Before I knew it, my outlook changed.

Just using the word "amazing" made me smile.

Even though I continued to repeat myself, at least I sounded positive.

From now on, I will try to remind myself that anything can be amazing... sitting in traffic, a long line at the grocery store, bad service at a restaurant and any extreme weather.

I've read that the east coast will be colder than usual this winter.

Surely, my new found coping method will come in handy when it arrives.

I guess I can say, I'm looking forward to one amazing winter and I repeat... amazing.

What an amazing day at the baseball game! Only 105 degrees!