positivity – Page 6 – Britt Skrabanek

Grinnin’ Through the Grind: Keep it Classy

Hey, I’m back with this mini series…Grinnin’ Through the Grind (If you missed the first segment: Keep it Healthy)

Onwards to Part Deux!

We all work our tushes off most of our lives. Whether we’re working our dream job or our day job, we are connected by a daily duty which often includes…DUN DUN DUN…office drama.

Keeping it classy at work would seem like a no-brainer, something we all do naturally, right?

Wrong.

Maybe it’s mob mentality – I’m not entirely sure – but the workplace can be a downright cesspool of negativity.

A snide remark here, a roll of the eyes there…hey look, it’s high school all over again! I think we can all agree that once was traumatic aplenty.

I’ve worked a lot of different jobs and snarkiness, although never fully disclosed in the employee handbook, seems to be a consistent occupational hazard.

So, it’s there – every day, every dusty corner of your drab office. We have to put on our big boy and girl pants, and deal.

It doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice ourselves, joining into the venomous banter just because everyone else is doing it. If so-and-so jumped off the ninth floor, would you join them? You catch my drift.

Here are a few ways to keep it classy around the office…

If you don’t have anything nice to say…zip the lip. Let’s be honest, we’ve all gossiped at one point or another. It takes work to stay out of that mindless trap. Think about a time you said something uncool about someone. Bet you didn’t feel too cool afterwards, did you?

Classy Solution: If you don’t get along with another person for this or that, try a ridiculously positive approach. Give them a little smile and kill them with kindness. You’ll be pleasantly surprised when your crap relationship experiences a chummy revelation, and you won’t be so eager to talk smack when the tension is nonexistent.

If they don’t have anything nice to say…shut it down. News flash, back stabbers! Lowering your voices or even whispering does not disguise your poisonous convo. And, cubicles are not made of soundproof steel.

Classy Solution: Throw on some headphones to block out the nasty. If you want to put an end to the crap talk, you don’t have to blatantly call them out on it like a narc. Just interrupt them with a work question and get everybody back on task.

If you’re frustrated about something…mind the noises. OK, this is a sneaky one that a lot of us do without realizing. The insanely loud, exaggerated sigh which screams “Why me?” or “This sucks!” is bad energy which should be channeled elsewhere.

Classy Solution: Close your eyes and turn your attention inward, practicing deep breathing while you slowly count to ten. If you still feel iffy, keep on counting. Or take a different type of breather, and go for a little stroll.

A definitive result of spreading negativity is the prominence of self-induced misery. Soon enough you won’t be grinnin’ through the grind, you’ll be grunting through it.

How do YOU keep it classy on the job?

*Next week will be the final part in this series. Grinnin’ Through the Grind: Keep it Movin‘ will be a special vlog from yours truly. Stay tuned…

A Birthday Perspective

Dang, I have a birthday looming in two days.

Nah, that’s not something I would say.

I am fortunate to celebrate another year of life in two days. There…that’s better.

Why are birthdays seen in a negative light?

Is it because we carry an unfulfilled life on our shoulders? Or perhaps it’s because each year we get that much older, unstoppably aging against our wills.

I’ve gotta say, a smattering of grey hairs and wrinkles sprouted up somewhere around the turn of a notable decade of my life.

I’m not going to lie. I was a little shaken with grey hairs at thirty. Then I realized it’s probably a common development but most women color their hair, making them oblivious to this colorless discovery.

At first I plucked them. And, to avoid further wrinkles, I attempted to not be as animated – forcing a half-smile when delighted and scolding my perky eyebrows when surprised.

But damnit…if I want to smile my ever-loving ass off, I’m gonna!

Of course it can be difficult to age, especially as women. Our society encourages eternal youth and unattainable perfection.

Yet, we all go down the same inevitable road. No matter how many expensive hair colors or night creams we entertain – we all have birthdays, we all age.

What if we look at birthdays this way…we’re not older than we were a year ago, we simply lived more.

I really like the way that sounds, don’t you?

Ah, the hell with it! I don’t care if I now have to buy two boxes of birthday candles since they usually come in packs of twenty-four.

I will not hide from this birthday or any thereafter. I am honored to be here another year, to enjoy more beauty and love.

I embrace my grey hairs because they represent incredible accomplishments and tribulations.

I embrace my wrinkles because they represent years of laughter and tears.

I embrace my birthday because it is symbolic of the joys of life – and that my dear friends is always a reason to celebrate.

Designed to Move

After a lot of back and forth, I’m proud to say I’m finally going for my Yoga teaching certification. One weekend a month for ten months I will meet at Yama Yoga, a quaint gem of a studio, with a small group of eager minds to explore gravity-defying poses, anatomical prowess, and spiritual receptivity.

Then I will be unleashed into the world, ready to complete my new mission…Yoga’s for everyone.

No, really. It is.

I feel that Yoga is for everyone just as dance is for everyone, because we are humans, and humans were designed to move. Instead we spend the majority of our time sitting in front of a computer.

Hey, I’m guilty, too. Writing novels, manning social media fronts, and spearheading a blog make me a stationary perpetrator on the grandest scale.

More than ever it is important for us to move. Often scheduling that time in the form of a class is the only way we can commit. The beauty of a mat and bare feet? They’re portable.

The idea of Yoga may cause you to roll your eyes. I get it. I used to think the inner peace mumbo-jumbo was just a hoax myself.

I discovered Yoga about ten years ago when my mother encouraged me to take class with her in Forth Worth, Texas. Being in my early college years, there was some major eye-rolling on my part.

Despite my flexibility and agility, being a dancer actually worked against me in Yoga. No more turning out, only parallel. No more floor traveling, only stationary on a mat. It felt wrong.

And, meditation at the end of class? Talk about squirmy! My mind raced thinking about everything else but the now, and 5-10 minutes was about a century long.

Nonetheless, every time I left class I felt different. There was no denying it. Without bothering to be fully engaged, my mind, against my will, felt calm and clear.

A lifelong dancer and instructor, in recent years my body responded to dance like it was on cruise control. Movement began to lose its direction, circling around and around a cul-de-sac. In dance classes, I became antsy and wandering, just like when I was a college kid with a bad case of the Namaste wiggles.

Yet this time it was different…it was burnout.

So, I revisited Yoga. I have been consistently practicing, enjoying countless emotional and physical benefits along the way.

An impatient person, I have to work hard every day to overcome anxiety and stress. It doesn’t come easily for me. My high energy and drive are great for kicking ass, not great when it comes to sitting still. Yoga challenges me to face my weaknesses head on, cultivating them into strengths.

This is when I started thinking about sharing my unrequited love for Yoga with others. And a teacher was born.

My goals as a Yoga teacher will be the same as I have for dance: check the negativity at the door and leave inspired. Yoga is for everyone in my opinion: young or old, active or inactive, spiritual or skeptical.

Stress, whether instigated by external or internal elements, surrounds us one way or another. Yoga encourages us to search ourselves, something we don’t take the time to do when we’re rushing from point A to point B.

I strongly believe if we, as individuals, are happy and peaceful, the world will become the same way. Just as fear and negativity are powerful influences, so are hope and positivity.

If you haven’t tried Yoga, I hope you’ll reconsider. It’s nothing but good.