Bestspectation

I remember once picking up an old photo album from the coffee table and thumbing through the pictures of my childhood. This time, the captioned dates and locations caught my attention. In 1951 I was in Arizona, 1952 Oklahoma, 1953 San Diego, 1956 Brazil, 1959 Alabama, 1963 Hawaii, 1966 Illinois. Change had been a way of life back then. Such was the life of an Air Force family.

My dad was an Air Force Pilot who taught me the benefits of an upbeat attitude, and how it applies to all aspects of your life.

Every time I made friends, got attached to a house or my bedroom or bonded with a teacher, my dad would announce that it was time to pack up and move. I accepted it as the way things were. I would walk into each new school wondering which of those faces belonged to my new best friend. As dad would remind me, it was important to make conscious decisions to be optimistic and to make the best of the situations.

Being flexible, being open, and shifting your mind-set is a powerful choice. And, because it doesn’t always look like a choice, people often miss it.

My friend, Kerri Zane said it so well in her book, It Takes All 5….

“As you begin your day, your frame of mind proves extremely important. If you start your day in the positive and expect that you will succeed in completing what you set out to do, you exponentially increase the chances that you will have a successful outcome. It’s a ‘bestpectation’ — expecting the best possible outcome in every circumstance.”

Thanks, dad, for teaching the concept of BESTspectation. It’s been an invaluable lesson. 

Kathy