Friday, November 3, 2017

Awfulizer vs Awesomizer



My daughter, Hannah, loved Winnie the Pooh. I can’t tell you how many movies we have and I can’t tell you how many times we watched those movies. And read the books. And sang along to tapes (CDs weren’t invented then or if they were, we didn’t have them).

Each character was memorable and I think each of us had a favorite. Mine was Eeyore. He kept losing his tail or it would fall off and sometimes when placed back on, it would be crooked and off-center.

Eeyore had a penchant for finding the gloom in almost every situation. A sunny blue sky- it might rain. A walk in the woods- too many thorns and bugs. Statements usually with a “Yes, but . . .” or an “I don’t know . . .” warning.

While Eeyore was my favorite character, I had to admit he grew tiresome. I think that’s why the writers only had him in bit parts and in snatches of action. Too much Eeyore was, well, too much.

And then there was Mary Mallon.

You probably know her better as Typhoid Mary. She was a cook and the first person in the United States identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the pathogen associated with typhoid fever. Legend had it that she had infected 51 people, three of whom died.

You might be wondering what the connection is between Eeyore and Typhoid Mary.

It’s simple, really. Both are/were carriers of gloom, of doom and both cause illness. Mostly illness to the heart and head and sometimes to our physical and emotional well-being.

I’m willing to bet right now, this very moment, each of you can picture someone who is a doom and gloom kind of person. Someone who sees the negative, the awful in any situation. Someone who is a “Yes, but . . .” person. I’m also willing to bet that when you are around this person, you can only take so much before he or she wears you out, drains your energy, and you lose the sunny and positive disposition you had.

And unfortunately, this Eeyore, this Typhoid Mary moves from person to person infecting him or her with this gloom, this doom until the positivity you and they feel is . . . gone. And each person they “touch” becomes infected and the tendency is to pass it on to the next, and to the next, and to the next . . .

I listened to a brief presentation from a colleague who had attended a conference. He shared with us some of the things he learned from it, some insights that caused him to ponder.

One of the things that struck him was the difference between the Awfulizer vs Awesomizer.

The Awfulizer has nothing positive or constructive to share or offer. He or she shoots down ideas and picks apart suggestions only offering what can or might go wrong without offering an alternative. This person has no energy and one wonders if the Awfulizer ever smiles, is ever happy.

The Awesomizer is the opposite. The Awesomizer is positive, energetic and intuitive and who sees the best in people and in situations. The Awesomizer actually looks for the best in people and in situations. And like Typhoid Mary, the Awesomizer is someone who can pass on his “disease.” Only in this case, the Awesomizer leaves everyone feeling uplifted, in a better mood and feeling positive. The Awesomizer leaves you with a smile, maybe a laugh.

We have a choice, you and I. We can be like Eeyore and the Awfulizer or we can be like the Awesomizer. In either case, we become like Typhoid Mary passing onto others whatever is in our heart, whatever we are feeling. Think about that for a moment . . . isn’t it better to fill someone’s cup with joy, with happiness and with hope rather than doom and gloom and darkness? We have that choice- either for ourselves or for others. As Yoda would say, “Choose wisely.” Something to think about . . .

To My Readers:

My fifth work of thriller/suspense fiction, Caught in a Web will be published by Black Rose Writing in April of 2018. While I complete the necessary edits and wait, I am finishing up my sixth, Spiral Into Darkness. As always, I will keep you posted on the progress of both.

Please feel free to connect with me at:

Twitter at @jrlewisauthor

Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author                                    

Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lewis/e/B01FWB9AOI/                                

If you like Thriller/Suspense fiction, check out my novels:

Available on Amazon for .99 the Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they don’t know one another, the lives of FBI Agent Kelliher and two boys become interwoven with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives are in jeopardy as each search for a way out. http://bit.ly/Taking-Lives-JLewis             

Stolen Lives, Book One of the Lives Trilogy:
Two thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all the others- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the possibility exists that one of his team members might be involved. http://bit.ly/Stolen-Lives-JLewis           

Shattered Lives, Book Two of the Lives Trilogy:
Six desperate and violent men escape. One of them stands in a kitchen facing a 14 year-old-boy with a gun. There are many reasons for the boy to pull the trigger. Mainly, the man had started it all. http://bit.ly/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis            

Splintered Lives, Book Three of the Lives Trilogy:
A 14 year-old-boy is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. High up on an Arizona mesa, he faces three desperate and dangerous men in hopes of saving his father and his brothers. http://bit.ly/Splintered-Lives-J-Lewis

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Thank you for your comment. I welcome your thought. Joe