Bill Thomas

A few days ago I had breakfast in a very nice restaurant. I ordered bacon and eggs. I told the server that I wanted my eggs over medium, my bacon medium with hash browns and wheat toast.

What arrived at my table was a bit different than what I ordered.

The eggs were cooked over easy and that is giving the cook a lot of credit. They were practically raw. The bacon was so crispy it crumbled when I picked it up. The hash browns were semi cooked and not too warm. The only item that was right was the toast.

Obviously the wanna-be chef thought my breakfast was good enough.

But I was in a teaching mode that day so I sent the plate back.

When my breakfast returned there was a definite difference. The eggs were cooked hard the bacon was nearly raw the hash browns still semi warm and the toast was cold.

The cold toast was because it didn’t get sent back.

I was a little angry that this cook thought that I should pay for something just slapped on a plate and shoved in my face.

After an intense discussion with the manager I paid for my good enough, un-eaten, breakfast and walked out.

As I fumed away, looking for another place to have breakfast I began thinking about what that cook had just done. I visualized myself in his kitchen.

The restaurant was full of people so in my mind I saw him juggling several breakfast on his griddle all at the same time. A picture of him with pancakes on one side, eggs on another, bacon over there and waffle irons bubbling away.

I began to soften my attitude a bit.

Then I began thinking about myself.

I had just finished re-building a deck on our house. When I cut the last board for my deck the joint was not perfect. The saw blade was dull making the saw run off just a little. It was definitely the saws fault.

It wasn’t a bad cut, but then, it wasn’t a good one either. But since it was the last cut and I was tired, like the recent breakfast chef, I decided it was good enough.

Now, every time I walk by that one board, I notice the good enough cut. It bothers me… I know in my heart that everyone who walks on my deck sees it and says to themselves, “that’s one of those ‘good enough’ cuts.”

It’s a reflection on my integrity.

The problem is that once we begin to say something is good enough, like myself and the cook, it becomes easier to say it the next time a thing isn’t well done. Before long we are saying,” good enough” many times.

Good enough becomes the norm for everything we do.

The sad thing is we begin to see it everywhere we go.

So, I asked myself, is it possible that one bad saw cut has an effect on other activities I do?

The answer was yes.

I got a compliment yesterday that made me feel good. I guess it was a round-about compliment, at least that How I took it. The lady asked me why I was so cheerful all the time.

I’ve never thought of myself as a cheerful person so it was somewhat of a surprise.

I had to think about it.

So here’s what I came up with.

When you pass 80 years on this planet you begin to realize that life is short. Spending time being angry or upset is an act of wasting what is left of your life.

The thing is, being angry is about being out of control and if I am out of control I can’t enjoy the moment. Moments are like gold to me

I wish I had learned that when I was twenty years old.

When I was twenty something I took life too seriously. When things didn’t go the way I wanted I would either get mad or upset. Then they would get worse and often they would go off track and turn into a train wreck. I spent of lot of my life cleaning up after the wrecks.

Now when things don’t go my way I don’t get upset. I realize if it didn’t go my way, it went someone else’s way. That meant they were happy. That made me happy knowing they were happy. I could smile.

You see, smiling is an amazing act. I was once told that it takes a bunch of muscles in your face to make a smile. When we put those muscles to work they exude some kind of euphoria that makes us feel good.

The best part is that smiles are contagious. If you smile at someone they usually catch whatever you have.

Some people would rather be upset than happy. Best way to trick them is to walk up with a big smile like you know something they don’t. Before you know it, that smile will spread faster than measles.

That will leave folks wondering what you know and they don’t.