2021 Cross Country Adventure

Pull Through

Positive expectancy has it's rewards

June 1, the first night out on our westbound 2021 Cross Country Adventure. At about 5:30 PM, I called the Yonah Mountain Campground to see if they had available space. I was tickled and a little surprised when a pleasant voice with that warm Georgia accent Donna Lee and I have become so fond of, answered the phone, "Thank you for calling Yonah Mountain Campground. How may I help you?" Most campgrounds close at five.

I asked the friendly voice:

"Do you have space available for our Class C RV?"

"Oh yes!"

"Anything with a pull through?"

"No, all our pull throughs are full, I'm sorry."

"We'll happily take the back-in space that's available."

Fifteen minutes later, when we arrived, as she was checking me in, she said, "Y'all were lucky I'm here. I'm not usually here after five. I was busy with some paperwork." She continued, "Let me see what I can find for y'all. You'll only be here the one night? Let me find you a nice, quiet spot."

I reiterated,

"Sure would like a pull through."

"Oh, goodness, I forgot. How long is your unit?"

"28'."

"#74 is an open pull through. We'll put y'all up there."

My pleasant exchange with this sugary-sweet, southern, campground host confirmed, once again, that "good things always happen to us." Positive expectancy does affect the outcome. How many people do you know who say, "nothing good ever happens to me." They feel the deck is stacked against them.

Here is how it works. We are so critical in our problem-oriented thinking that we remember and amplify the things that don't work out as we'd hoped for. We forget or write off the things that do go well with phrases like, "That won't happen again, or everyone gets lucky once in a while, or it's about time I got a break." We nurse and rehearse the bad things that happen in our lives, instead of nursing and rehearsing the good things that happen to us all the time.

So, what do you think it would take for "good things to always happen to you?" You could start by saying, "Good things always happen to us!" Just say the words, get the feeling, "Good things always happen to us," emphasize the word always as you repeat it. Then begin to enthusiastically recall the good things that have and do happen to you every day. Learn all you can from the problems, challenges, stumbling blocks, the "flat tires" of your experience. Learn to say, "What part did I play in this?" Be honest in your inquiry. You will find more ways to create the good things you desire.

Worst case: let's say nothing changes in your life experience – same percentage of good and bad things. Just reframing your inventory of the past day searching for and finding the good things that inevitably happen every day will enrich your life's experience and you will be the richer for it.

See success, then give it a rest.