“Sixteen years ago I learned an important life lesson, in the back of a New York City taxi cab.
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, skidded, and missed the other car by mere inches! The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was actually friendly!
So, I asked him, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and could’ve sent us to the hospital!” And this is when my taxi driver told me about what I now call, “The Law of Garbage Trucks.” “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 need a place to dump it, and if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Instead, just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You’ll be happier because you did.”
-The Law of the Garbage Truck
Have you ran into people who tried to dump their garbage on you lately? Have you been the one to dump your garbage on them? As a mother, I feel I dump my garbage on my kids or my husband frequently, like a few days ago when I went to bed at 5 a.m., they got the crankiest mom for the day.😅 I’m trying to take care of myself and make sure I’m happy and well-rested so that my kids will get the best version of me as their mother. And sleep is #1!
But it’s so hard because I love staying up late in silence where no one is calling my name every 5 seconds or needing me. I don’t need to listen, do something for someone else, help, feed, listen, wash, change, entertain, listen(SO MUCH listening all day long) to anyone but me. So that’s my biggest struggle, going to bed early. What is your #1 obstacle from being the best version of yourself?
Thank you for this post. It helped in my reflections of 2018 and how I wish to handle other people’s garbage in the coming year. I’ve shared this with friends in the hopes it will enhance their thinking too. <3