Escaped Monkeys, 12 Step Programs, Tackling Negativity

Aside from an embarrassed zookeeper or the animals rights activists, one of the reasons that the  rest of us were intently following the saga of Zimm (with 1,000+ Twitter followers overnight plus mentions by CBS and NBC) is that there was very little hatred involved. No flags or SCOTUS decisions or boycotts or any of that. How nice. 

I attended a 12 step program meeting last week for the first time.  If you go with a certain attitude, then, yes, the clichés and stereotypes will abound. If you go in with an open mind, it can be a moving and humbling experience…no matter why or how you came to be there. Two things struck me immediately: (1)  everyone, from whatever walk of life, is on an equal footing, attentive and supportive, and (2) there is a big emphasis on making amends, directly or indirectly.  Stop me if you have heard this, but anger, negativity, grudges, derision, and the like are a virtual cancer in the mind &  body of the holder of those things: you may hate someone or something else, but you are the one harmed most over time.

And that’s the other thing: one day at a time – whether alcohol or drugs or negative attitudes. Every day is a new challenge and offers new opportunities, but the key is proactive, intentional change; change in behavior is one way to begat change in attitude & outlook (see last weeks blog).  A fine example is physical activity releasing endorphins.

So until we have more monkeys on the loose, I highly recommend spending your social media time on viral videos of baby goats and cats. And get out of your house just to make sure there isn't a monkey in your yard. You never know!