Beware of Garbage Trucks

[David Baxter PhD]

Beware of Garbage Trucks?
by David J. Pollay

How often do you let other people?s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you?re the Terminator, you?re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what?s important in your life.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here?s what happened.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, the car skidded, the tires squealed, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the other car?s back-end.

I couldn?t believe it. But then I couldn?t believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face. And for emphasis, he threw in a one finger salute, as if his words were not enough.

But then here?s what really blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, ?Why did you just do that!? This guy could have killed us!? And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, ?The Law of the Garbage Truck?.? He said:

Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they?ll dump it on you.

So when someone wants to dump on you, don?t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You?ll be happier.​

So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? It was then that I said, ?I don?t want their garbage and I?m not going to spread it anymore.?

I began to see Garbage Trucks. Like in the movie The Sixth Sense, the little boy said, ?I see Dead People.? Well now ?I see Garbage Trucks.? I see the load they?re carrying. I see them coming to dump it. And like my taxi driver, I don?t take it personally; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time is Walter Payton. Every day on the football field, after being tackled, he would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best. Over the years the best players from around the world in every sport have played this way: Tiger Woods, Nadia Comaneci, Muhammad Ali, Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, Michael Jordan, and Pele are just some of those players. And the most inspiring leaders have lived this way: Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Ghandi, and Martin Luther King.

See, Roy Baumeister, a psychology researcher from the University of Florida, found in his extensive research that you remember bad things more often than good things in your life. You store the bad memories more easily, and you recall them more frequently.

So the odds are against you when a Garbage Truck comes your way. But when you follow The Law of the Garbage Truck?, you take back control of your life. You make room for the good by letting go of the bad.

The best leaders know that they have to be ready for their next meeting. The best sales people know that they have to be ready for their next client. And the best parents know that they have to be ready to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses, no matter how many garbage trucks they might have faced that day. All of us know that we have to be fully present, and at our best for the people we care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their lives.

What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here?s my bet: You?ll be happier.

 

[Daniel E.]

I began to see Garbage Trucks. Like in the movie The Sixth Sense, the little boy said, “I see Dead People.” Well now “I see Garbage Trucks."

:love-it:

 

[sister-ray]

Good article, makes alot of sense!!

 

[ladylore]

It does make sense, and it also is a sign of the improvment I have made. I do still let some garbage trucks change my moods. But not nearly as many as it use to be.

 

[Bones]

Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they?ll dump it on you.

So when someone wants to dump on you, don?t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You?ll be happier.​

:lol: :2thumbs:

 

[Sparrow]

Thank you for the wise posting David, I was thinking of it for a while; those garbage trucks I have called vampires for many years. People that are so full of negativity I avoid like the plague, and I am much more content for it.

Furthering this metaphor, garbage trucks have many relatives...

Some peoples only purpose in life seems be to get a sick glee from knowingly inflicting others with this garbage or "black stuff". It could be verbal...emotional...mental...physical but beyond abuse, being "not nice" isn't a crime and we can all think of examples, it's been around for ages. I can feel sorry for people like that, but avoid them just the same.

Still others innocently don't even realize they are a garbage truck. Your talking to "someone" and they go bla-bla-bla-bla-bla-bla for 5 minutes straight without coming up for air. I set them straight pretty quick though. I didn't say to them "Tell me your troubles" it's not a two-way street and there is no "give and take".
Different from that are people that know they need vent. Heck, I have a few friends I use as a "bouncing board" and they speak to me the same way other times for support. But it's a mutual understanding and I call them...friends.

I have a few here on this forum.

Just a sparrow going ..."squawk"

 

[NicNak]

That is a brilliant way of looking at it.

My quote has always been "Negativity is contageous, fortunetly so is positivity"

"Don't let anyone step on your dreams"

It is so true, that negitivity can ruin people. I often wonder if negative people know how they affect sensitive people. When they are rude and hateful, they can pierce like arrows.

I have faught hard to not pass it on, but I do have it affect me still. I take it personally and can get bogged down by it especially if it is someone I have to have constant contact with.

 

[white page]

Brilliant post ...........this has lifted my mood considerably . Thank you .....
I will from now on,smile at all those drivers who hoot angrily at me in the morning because I keep within the speed limits:dimples: . I have been known in the past to poke my tonque out at them , I am very ashamed to say that now !!:blush:

 

[Mari]

I have been known in the past to poke my tonque out at them

I think that is quite reasonable - kind of like a wave but keeping both hands safely on the steering wheel. Mari

 

[white page]

I think that is quite reasonable - kind of like a wave but keeping both hands safely on the steering wheel. Mari

:funny:

:thankyou2:
Mari , you have just swept away the feelings of remorse I was having !!

 

[Daniel E.]

By the same author:

Spread Love, Not Garbage