I spent the last week at the Womanairre Extraordinaire conference in Long Beach. Lots of driving and a huge commitment of my time. After being out of town for 10 days, I really wasn't sure how I was going to pull this off. I signed up for two reasons -- 1) to honor my friend, Terilee Harrison who was one of the presenters and is the lovely woman standing next to me & 2) to recharge my batteries because I always tell my clients about how important it is to do that and not living your own advice is bad karma. (I ended up having a good time, meeting a few INCREDIBLE women and re-connected with a few other amazing individuals from my not-too-distant past. I plan on keeping in touch with some of these extraordinary women -- Kammy, Ann, Jody, Kelli, Mary Ann, Stephany and Donna all made the drive worthwhile.)

So.....before I made my drive on Friday, I stopped at the Soup Shoppe in Riverside to get a bite to eat. As I was waiting for my ham, egg and cheese sandwich on squaw bread, there was a bit of commotion at the table behind me. I looked over and saw country fried steak, eggs, potatoes and toast all over one of the patrons jeans, floor and table. It looked like a the work of a little boy in his terrible two's -- a VERY BIG mess. After 10 years in Federal law enforcement and being the President of a successful coaching business, I've seen a lot and calmly waited for the explosion. (Plus, I love a good story for my presentations.) What I witnessed was a bit of EI, EI-O! Emotional Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence- Oh, my!

When the plate dropped, everyone in the restatuant was quiet and turned to see what happened, including me. Then, Kevin, who turned out to be the man with the gravy and eggs all over his jeans, said "this is all my fault". (He was taking responsibility ~ unusual!). He even apologized several times to the waitress. He could've yelled and cursed her out but he didn't. He chose the upside. While the manager was on the floor cleaning up the mess, one of the waitresses went back to the cook and requested the breakfast again. He asked "why?". I thought now here it comes....the explosion....but nothing. She said "because it's all over the floor" and the cook simply said "O.K"! He, too, was an upside thinker. The last part was amazing. The manager says "it's ok, we're getting the carpet cleaned this weekend!" That's an upside thinker. Upside is about the possibilities in every circumstance. Kevin's friends chose to laugh with him, not at him, and the whole thing became a comical interlude rather than the start of a bad day....for the customers, the employees and Kevin.

Our choices determine where we are in life. Choose to live on the upside! Thank you to Kevin, Jim and the City of Riverside!