BugOnMyBall.com

The other day, I was happily buying sundries at Walmart (I want to “Save Money, Live Better”) and there was a morbidly obese woman in a motorized shopping cart registering several complaints with the manager.   As I passed them, I suddenly experienced a feeling of déjà vu.  You see, this was not the first time (or even second time) that I have come across this situation at Walmart.  From as much as I can recall, I have seen no less than 4 obese women in expensive motorized carts (provided to them by Walmart) complaining about how Walmart has done them wrong.  As I started to think about why I would necessarily see so many self-righteous obese women in one place, I remembered that I was not only at Walmart, but I also live in Georgia.

Don’t get me wrong – Georgia is a beautiful state with friendly people and Atlanta has the same conveniences as most larger cities, but every once in a while, something happens to remind me that I do indeed live in Georgia – where you may soon be able to carry your gun to church with you because you never know when God might need it.

Here’s a perfect example…a couple of Saturdays ago, my husband and I were driving back home after a round of golf and were stopped at a red light.  Like most people, I look around casually to see what’s happening as I’m riding along and in a truck next to me, there was a guy wearing a sweater.  Considering the fact that it was 93 degrees out at the time, it seemed odd, so I looked over again to see the strange design.  To my dismay, my eyes were deceiving me – the man in the truck next to us was not wearing a sweater.  As a matter of fact, he wasn’t wearing a shirt AT ALL.  As the light changed to green, the man’s truck pulled away from the light revealing his “No Fat Chicks” bumper sticker and his “This truck has balls” balls hanging from the hitch.  Without missing a beat, my husband turned to me and said, “Welcome to Georgia, babe”.

In January of every year, I (like most people) take stock of my life and ponder what I hope to accomplish in the New Year. After some thought, I decided that I was going to make 2010 my Year of Excellence. Notice that I did not say perfection, but excellence. Now I realize that you are probably scratching your head and wondering what I mean by this, so allow me to explain. ..

Pat Riley said that “Excellence is not about having things, or about having recognition, or about having money or power or position. It’s about being part of something worthwhile – where people can go above and beyond”. Well, this quote is going to be my mission statement for 2010.

I have set up a couple of guidelines for my journey:

I will not allow negativity and pessimism to poison my life. Did you know that you can think positive thoughts on purpose?! Many motivational speakers talk about this, but they make it sound easy – you have to be vigilant and it takes some work, but you will reach a point where ejecting negative, stinky thoughts from your mind will become effortless.

I will praise others for their successes. It’s an easy initial reaction to question “Why not me?” Keep in mind that there is a time for all things and celebrating someone else’s success will not diminish your triumphs when they come. Plus, we never know how important that success may really mean to the other person.

I will not dwell on what life owes me. Life doesn’t owe us diddly-squat. The fact that we are alive and breathing in itself is a miracle, so be thankful for what you have and be joyful in your journey.

I will do nice things for people who can’t really benefit me. Do nice things simply for the joy of doing them. Especially if you’re in a bad mood or just feeling particularly cranky, do something nice for someone else. Even something as small as paying the toll for the person in line behind you – it will lighten your mood. The funny thing is, the more you do, the better you feel.

I will be friendly to everyone – even if they were not friendly to me. For all you know, you might be the only person that has been nice to them all day…or all week. Why not be the highlight of someone’s day or week!

I’ve taken this list of 5 things and posted it on the mirror in my bathroom so I will be reminded of what I promised myself I would do. I know that there will be times that I will falter and not live up to these standards, but stay tuned and I will post periodic updates to let you in on my progress (or lack thereof…out stinky thought! Yea, first victory!) If you would like to join me, that would be great and I would love to hear how you are doing in your journey as well!

For me, it was a typical Saturday – a little bit of shopping with my mom, a little bit of lunch, a little more shopping, etc. As we moved on from store to store after enjoying a lovely lunch, I suddenly realized that the 3 glasses of iced tea I had consumed were beginning to press upon me and they wanted OUT. Thankfully, the store had a public restroom and I was able to avert any serious consequences that may have occurred due to my lack of proper planning. (Thank you Shoe Carnival!)

This little incident really got me thinking – when I was younger, there were very few restrooms for public use. Restrooms were usually located in some dark corner of the stock room and you had to navigate the obstacle course of boxes and other miscellaneous items in order to answer the call of nature. And the best part was that these strictly utilitarian rooms were guarded by the employees like they were protecting the Arc of the Covenant. How do you know that, you ask? Well, when I was 19, I used to be one of those employees – only I didn’t mind letting people use the restroom in our store. It was a rare occurrence and you could tell that the customer wouldn’t be asking unless they too were trying to avert a possibly volatile situation.

So why write about public restrooms? Well, since I find myself on golf courses quite often, I have developed a particular fascination with their facilities, and how female-friendly they are. (Please note: I am not a feminist in particular, but I do feel the need to point out that women (just by the way we are made) have certain needs that should be recognized by businesses if they want our valuable consumer dollars.) And I would also like to give a hearty thank you and nod of appreciation to those locations who have taken this into consideration. Because if I’m not thinking about my powder room needs, I can focus on the task at hand – giving you my hard-earned money.