By Sue DiFranco
Copyright © 2002 Sue DiFranco/Fun Facts Publishing  

Two stories: different, but linked, with similar positive outcomes.

Story # 1: As I was wandering around Memories Expo in Las Vegas (does shopping count as work?), I noticed DMD Industries had their paper stacked on the floor. The first sign I saw posted on their display said: "Low overhead means lower prices for you!" What brilliant marketing, I thought. They're eliminating the cost of fixtures and passing the savings on. Smart!

Then I saw the next sign: "It's 10:00. Do you know where your fixtures are?" And then, "Will work for fixtures." Several other similar humorous signs were posted. I talked to them, and sure enough, their fixtures hadn't arrived from the shipping company! But what did they do? They took a frustrating, helpless situation and turned it into something positive, something funny. I know I sure giggled when I read the signs. Sure, it must have been difficult for them, but they ultimately looked at their situation and chose to react in a positive manner.

Story # 2: Being a "newbie" to exhibiting at conventions, I did at Memories Expo what I did at MemoryTrends: asked the convention hall service booth personnel how to go about sending my freight UPS. At MemoryTrends, they helped set us up, the freight was shipped UPS, and I had a nice inexpensive bill waiting for me when I got home.

At Memories Expo, I was told that UPS wouldn't come by at that time of night, so it would be a better idea to go with the convention hall's shipping company. Believing the prices would be similar (How much of a difference can there be? I naively thought), we went ahead with that company.

What a shock when I received the bill - and it was THREE times what it cost to ship there through UPS - despite weighing less. When we told the man representing the company on the phone that we assumed the price would be similar to UPS, he chuckled and said, "Umm...no."

Our desperate pleas of "But we're just a small company!" and "We didn't know!" eventually helped get us a break: they gave us a one-time 25% off discount. But it was still more than double what we expected to pay.

How did I react? I won't lie - at first I got mad! I yelled, I screamed, I cried, I worried. But then I stopped. OK, I thought - this is not solving anything.  So I took some quiet "me time" and sat down with a notebook. I wrote down what I will do differently next time. I wrote down all of the positive things that have happened recently and reflected on them. Finally, I went over my goals sheet and positive affirmations.  I ended up feeling wonderful!

See, it's not so much what happens - it's how you choose to react. And sure, we all are able to choose! We can choose our reactions, we can choose our attitude, we can choose our emotions. I chose to learn from my experience and concentrate on the positives in my life. The gang at DMD chose to turn their situation into a humorous ones. And we all emerged feeling victorious!

I wish you all the best of success - however you define it!