An Equation

I just this very minute finished listening to a weekly inspirational call for business owners and entrepreneurs, and was struck by the contrast between that message and a telephone call that ended moments before I dialed in to the weekly message.

I have times of feeling "stuck", both in business and personally, and I'm finally realizing the power of the words I speak to affect both my own actions and the perceptions of those around me.  I have heard that I can't speak negativity and defeat and experience success.  That makes perfect sense in the business world (and why would I want to speak negatively of my business in any case?), but it's not as immediately obvious in the world-of-being-an-employee, which I recently left.

A dear friend from my previous job called this morning, wanting my opinion on a case in which I had been involved, as well as another case.  I was delighted to hear from my friend, and we spoke for twenty minutes.  In all that time, there was never one positive word said about her work/my former job.  That didn't surprise me, as I have noted the sucking negativity and despair that pervades much of that workplace, but it did cause me to stop and wonder if some situations are simply irretrievably "lost", given the combination of personalities, expectations and job descriptions (or lack of clarity thereof).

That is an interesting question.  I decided for myself that my previous work environment was irretrievably lost, and that the longer I stayed there the more I was having to contort myself mentally and emotionally.  Or, to paraprhase the song from "Chicago", is there really "a little bit of good in every situation"?  If there is, is the bit of good vanishingly small, or big enough to act as a pivot point?

I'm not going to devote the time or mental energy to sussing that out; instead, I'm contenting myself with noticing the two equations that were brought to my attention this morning.  From the call from my friend, I was reminded that the wages of negativity...continue to decrease every year.  From the inspirational business call, I was reminded that into every positive vision, hardship inevitably comes, but the rewards are even higher on the other side.