Yesterday I had an enlightening interaction.
Now this interaction wasn’t enlightening in the sense of walking away feeling more uplifted. What I experienced was quite the opposite. I walked away feeling exponentially worse than I felt just moments before the interaction took place.
Here’s what happened…
I received a phone number via text from a colleague that belonged to a gentleman named Everett, whom I needed to call to ensure a business transaction was handled in a timely manner. Upon receiving the phone number I immediately called. As the phone was ringing I stepped into an elevator, which caused the call to disconnect on my end. So after exiting the elevator on the designated floor, I immediately redialed the number again.
What happened next altered my emotional state.
A woman picked up the phone. “Hello!”, she loudly proclaimed.
“Hello. Can I please speak to Everett?” I asked.
“Who is this?”, she yelled. “Why are you calling my phone asking to speak to someone I do not know. You called once already and hung up on me. Who do you think you are? Why are you playing on my phone?”
She was angry!
“This is not Everett’s phone!”, she continued. “Don’t ever call me again and if you do I will get a restraining order against you Linal Harris or who ever you are! That’s right…I called your number back when you hung up and got your name from your voicemail. I know who you are and I’m prepared to go down to the police station and file a complaint!”
“I’m so sorry…”, I began, but was quickly interrupted by quite a few more explicit remarks before the woman on the other end disconnected the call.
I was speechless and stunned!
“What just happened?” I asked myself. Then I could feel my emotions began bubbling. I was starting to get angry.
What right did this woman have to treat me so poorly for simply calling the wrong number?
I could feel myself getting mad and that’s when I caught myself. Minutes ago I didn’t know this woman even existed, and after a brief interaction she had successfully transferred her energy directly to me.
I needed to get centered.
I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths and with that I could feel the negative energy this woman had transferred to me slowly leave.
Somehow my phone had served as a portal and transferred unproductive emotions from this unhappy woman directly to me.
This got me to thinking.
Who transferred that negative energy to her?
How long had the cycle been going?
How many people had it infected?
I shared this story because I know all to often many of us have either transferred unproductive and negative energy or we’ve been the recipient of this type of energy transfer.
My challenge to all of us this week is this:
If or when you encounter any unproductive or negative energy as you go throughout your day during the week, make sure the cycle ends with you. Don’t transfer those feeling to anyone else.
Are you willing to take this challenge?
Here’s what you should do if something negative happens.
- Stop.
- Close your eyes.
- Take a few deep breaths.
- Exhale that bad energy away.
- Get centered.
- Smile real big at the next person you see.
As a matter of fact…give a real big smile to the next person you see after reading this.
I would love to know how this works for you, so please share your experiences here or on the Inspirational Perspective Facebook page.
Make it a great week and stay inspired; it’s a lifestyle choice!
About the Author:
Linal Harris
Global Entrepreneur – Certified Life Coach – Media Personality – Speaker
Linal Harris is a Corporate America graduate, global entrepreneur, certified life coach, and media personality. He has penned over 200 blog posts on his popular website of 5 years, InspirationalPerspective.com and recorded over 200 radio shows on his weekly WVON 1690 AM talk radio program, “Inspirational Perspective”—which he also broadcasts live to his Periscope channel. Harris is a heavily sought-after speaker for conferences and events across the country. He is gifted in custom designing presentations for specific audiences that motivate and inspire. He has been called upon by numerous professional career organizations, universities and Fortune 500 companies to facilitate goal-setting sessions and provide inspirational talks. In 2015, Harris was inducted into Triton College’s Alumni Hall of Fame and he was the recipient of the 2013 Chicago Defender’s Men of Excellence award and the 2012 Chicago Urban Roundtable’s 40 Game Changers Under 40 award.
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Awesome timing you have! I had a similar experience this morning…I greatly appreciate the coaching through this story!! 🙂 I promise to only SMILE the rest of the day thanks to you!
Great story and advice. I will be sharing this with my team for sure.
WHAT do you mean by get centered