Half-Full...

Chapter 1

She woke up one day and looked outside, the weather was gray. The raindrops ran down leaves dancing as they went. But, to her, they weren’t dancing at all. They were, from the moment they cascaded down from the sky, the cloud's teardrops. To some, it was a beautiful day. An opportunity to wear the boots that were recently purchased or a day to cozy up with a coffee. But, those were half-full people. People who saw the rain and knew that that meant a rainbow. But, for her… the rain reminded her that she had to go to work and leave the comfort of her cocoon. She was going to turn into a sponge the moment she stepped out the door, and her day would feel dragged on by lack of changing emotions from the sun. She would walk through her door looking at the day as half-empty because, to her, that was what came naturally. She looked in the mirror one last time before she walked out the door. She took a couple of extra seconds to stand a little taller, finding the confidence that her natural hair was spontaneously giving her. Adjusting her rain jacket she stepped out the door. The sparkling crystals weren’t falling from the sky as hard, so she thought she might risk the walk to her car leaving off her hood to show off her confidence-inducing hair. Once in the car, she takes a deep breath looking at her watch and counting the hours until she can come right back to this spot, unconvinced that there is going to be anything exciting to interest her on another routine day.

Chapter 2

She pulls open the doors to the office building, humidity frantically swimming in the air as if high on caffeine. Coworkers split down the middle, half looking like giddy kids wearing their rainy-day sweaters and the other half feeling as upset to be at work as she feels. But, non the less, greetings and smiles are exchanged. Because, although the day isn’t looking as bright as she would have liked, the act of kindness brings a small level of endorphins that jump-starts her to make it to lunch. Her closest friend in the office approaches her desk. He appears with a chipper grin on his face, which then converts to a confused head tilt. He chuckles to himself holding out his phone with the front camera on, passing it to her.

“I’m here for the frizz.” He adds as he sits on the edge of her desk. She frantically grabs the phone from his hand. She jumps into action, scrunching her face, dropping her head noticing that the damp room has persuaded her once cooperative hair into a confused pile of frizz. She pulls the hair tie off her wrist that sits there for emergencies such as this. Being prepared for the worst helps to soften the blow. The puff of hair swings up into a ponytail with her baby hairs purposely rebelling against the more mature ones, causing fluffy curls to frame her face. She grumbles as she passes the phone back to her friend giving her a condescending, pouty look.

“The world already presented itself against you today?” He asks with a glimmer of sarcasm peeking out behind his words.

“My mood reflects the weather.” is my excuse for the day.

“Well then, I suppose today is going to be twice as long… but, before you add today to the list of dragged-on days. There is a big bowl of strawberries in the kitchen.” He gives her a side glance as he stands flashing a quick smile before heading back to his respectful desk across the room.

Chapter 3

Her eyebrows give away her curiosity, but her mind writes the mental note, not allowing the message to travel to her feet. She sits there allowing the storm outside to hover over her while she works inside. Finding little things to draw out the day, feeling like there are only a handful of moments that have caused her to not crawl under her desk and pretend that she’s at home with a book and not staring at her empty coffee cup. When she looks at the clock and notices that it has only been two and a half hours, she stands, needing a break from this long day. She passes her friend's desk on the way to the kitchen. She looks over and sees that his lamp is causing a cozy glow to cascade down over his calendar hanging on the wall which is a photo of a beautiful beach. The light reflects off and the glow rolls over the edge of the desk. He sits there with a full mug of coffee, humming a song that she can’t quite make out as he has a soft and eager expression giving him a warm and inviting presence on the otherwise dreary day. She walks past giving a slight shrug and a mild smile that is met with a genuine one. Why is his day not as dim as hers? Her thoughts stab at her posture as her shoulders sink half an inch more. The walk to the kitchen is short with the anticipation of a full bowl of strawberries pulling at each pant leg as she steps. She turns the corner to find the table supporting the bowl in question. Peering over it, she finds a single berry laying there. Her brain turns into a Rubix cube of thoughts. Some swiveling to frustration and annoyance; that it was just her luck that there would only be one… a single strawberry left. Add it to today's sparkling resume. The other half is swiveling to the bright side. At least there was one. One is better than nothing. I should have come in earlier if I wanted more. Grateful that someone brought them in at all. The two sides battle, both presenting reasonable arguments. She lands on the bright side, allowing it a chance to deserve the win. She walks back to her desk, again glancing at her friend's golden-coated desk and half-empty coffee cup.

Chapter 4

The venture back to her desk feels a touch lighter as her mood slowly lifts. She looks down at her desk, quickly snapping her head back in the direction of her friend's desk. He looks at her and raises his mug in the air, giving a comforting smile before bringing his coffee to his lips. Her posture melts as she shares a smile of gratitude lifting the once-empty mug that is now half-full to her mouth. She carries that attitude for the rest of the day. Fighting now and then those dreary feelings that would sneak up when something wouldn’t go her way or she perceived her boss gave her a moody look. But, she chose to continually look at the now empty mug. Her co-worker lives his life talking positivity over his days, she knows it. He has always laughed at her because, to her, the negatives always won the race in her mind. So why did this little act matter? He had a full cup of something that he worked for that would help him throughout the day, and instead of keeping it to only benefit himself, he shared his joy. Even if it was as simple as a splash of coffee. He emptied some of his cup to show that her cup isn’t empty or half-empty, but half-full. It caused her to realize that it is simply a mindset, a perspective change. She chose to fight for happy thoughts, and although not always winning, she decided not to give up. The next day, she woke up to the same cloudy sky but told her initial thoughts that rain today means greener plants tomorrow. Her hair, although still textured from yesterday, was left down to let the humidity paint her aesthetic for the day. She left the emergency hair tie at home and instead traded it for a clip to embrace the look instead of hiding it. She welcomed her co-workers with a full smile anticipating a good day. She talked herself through work practicing finding the good. Her day went by with ease and the stress she typically carries was less of a burden. She felt more productive and eager to push herself. She found herself laughing at her mistakes instead of wanting to fade away like a whisper. She’s still practicing, but the sun finally peeked out the next day.

A little bit of a reminder that positive thinking can transform our days and our environments. We each experience that half-empty or half-full way of thinking. Some gravitate to one side a little more than the other, but we are all capable of finding the good in situations. Just as words have power, our thoughts carry just as much. The more we practice telling ourselves the positives of life, the more we will begin to believe and live them. I hope you all had an amazing week. As we approach the weekend, don’t forget to find the good in each situation. If you have a moment, follow The Allie-Way on Instagram, subscribe to the website, share the post with someone, and let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment! I love reading them! Thanks for reading Allie-Cats!

• Dru Allie