Be a Positive People Pusher

We made plans a week in advance to take my boat out on Sunday afternoon. I was conflicted. I love taking the boat out and I was excited because I knew that my niece Olivia was excited. She wanted to learn how to operate the boat. This was the second time we made plans; the first got cancelled because of the weather.

But Sunday afternoon is prime nap time…hence the conflict.

So when it started raining after church I wasn’t heartbroken. “God knows that I need a nap.” And I did get my nap. Then around 3 that afternoon, He parted the clouds and brought forth the sun and also brought forth Sandra and Olivia knocking at my bedroom door.

“We can still do this. We’ve still got time,” Olivia brimmed with optimism.

It was fine. I felt refreshed and she was right. If we hustled we did have enough time for Olivia’s first boating experience. Onward we marched. She backed her truck up to my boat and I dropped the trailer thingie on the trailer hitch ball.

Oops…did you know that there are different size balls? Why???

The ball size on her truck didn’t match my trailer. I suddenly felt my eyelids grow heavier. I could fall back to sleep in the blink of an eye. It’s a gift I have.

Olivia quickly popped out her Iphone and Googled Lowe’s. She must have had a sixth sense.

“Lowe’s has the size we need. Let’s go! We can still do this,” Olivia pressed on.

I’m not sure if my groan was audible.

But how could I bring a cloud over this ray of smiling sunshine that beamed before me?

We drove to Lowe’s in Waxhaw, found the ball, returned home and Olivia had it installed within a total of 52 minutes from the time we discovered the problem. It was just past 4pm.

“We still have time to go, right?” Olivia asked.

Indeed we did and off we went.

It was a beautiful afternoon and a great time. I love being on the water, but at times that love is countered by a stronger propensity towards laziness. One that stalls at the first sign of a problem.

I realized the power of having a positive person around to push me through problems into possibilities. Without Olivia’s positive tenacity I would have missed an experience that I will never forget. How she backed the trailer into the water on her first try; how we chased the geese around; the meaningful conversations we shared. It’s a memory that I can relive in my old age as I rock in my chair on the front porch of the retirement home.

It raises a question that I need to keep at the forefront of my mind. Am I an anchor that holds people back or am I a positive force that will propel them through problems into greater possibilities?

I want to be a positive people pusher like Livi.