Today, I invited my friend and colleague Mari Ryan, CEO of Advancing Wellness to post a guest blog.  She shared a wonderful story and a great lesson for us all!  Here it is:

When I got up at 5:30 this morning I was cranky. I went to bed cranky. I decided the best way to deal with this feeling was to walk it off, so I took my Cairn Terrier Miss Kate for a long walk. As I walked along the main road, a young man on a bicycle came whizzing by. He yelled “Isn’t it a beautiful day?” I thought for a moment and shouted back “It sure is!” As he continued down the road, he put his hands out to the side as if he was flying. With all that joy he was exuding, he was flying. His joy was absolutely contagious. It suddenly made me think – “So what are you so cranky about? Take a lesson from him and be joyful”. As Miss Kate and I continued our walk, I contemplated the young man who challenged me to see the day from a different perspective. I consciously chose to think differently – to appreciate the things I have to be grateful for and to enjoy the beautiful morning that I was experiencing on my walk. When I got home, I tackled a few of the things that had been making me cranky and felt much better. I hope I see that young man on another early morning walk soon.

Mari Ryan is CEO of AdvancingWellness (www.advwellness.com), a worksite wellness company based in the Boston, MA area.