"Shake ... "

... Shake it like a bowl of soup
And make your body loop de loop 
Put your hands on your hips 
And kinda let your backbone slip 
Move your body like a whip 
And just shake! 

And if you wanna really roll 
You got to do the thing with soul 
Shake the shake with all your might 
Oh, if you do it, do it right 
Just make your body loose and light 
And kinda shake ...

Shake! 
Shake! 
Shake! 
Shake! ...

~ Sam Cooke ~ Shake ~

***

You’ve probably heard someone say “just shake it off”.  I have plenty of times.  And today had an experience where I literally did.  

During a work meeting, I met an individual for the first time.  So naturally I introduced myself and immediately felt the cold vibe on the other side of the hand shake.  Nonetheless, I didn’t read into it cause it usually has nothing to do with you and everything with them.  Next came a compliment from one of my team members about my years of experience with reference to former employer.  I smiled only to hear from the newly met fellow “whatever, that means nothing to me, I am from company X, a competitor”.

Huh?  I sat there a bit dumbfounded.  Did this guy just openly “judge” me in the first 5 minutes of meeting me?  Could he be so obviously rude?  And how are we going to proceed with the meeting on that note?  Well, the meeting did continue and needless to say, his attitude got worse and worse ... he had basically antagonized the rest of the attendees.  Funny how some people can just dig themselves a hole.  Yeah sure, we’ll get right on your next request buddy, no problem!

After the dust settled, there was some discussion among the rest of us on what had transpired.  But instead of dwelling on it, I realized that this was simply projection on his part.  This was personal, for him!  Something must be pret-ty off for him to behave in this manner.  Still unacceptable but provides some insight.

Projection is a defense mechanism that involves taking our own unacceptable qualities or feelings and ascribing them to other people.  Projection works by allowing the expression of the desire or impulse, but in a way that the ego cannot recognize, therefore reducing anxiety.  Yup sure does sound like Mr. Not-So-Nice-Guy doesn’t it?

Don't dwell or linger on what went wrong ...

Regardless I made the choice to shake it off.  Sure sharing the story is one thing but using it to feed my own insecurities I choose NOT to do.  That is what I use to do.  Didn’t work then, and won’t work now.  Instead I focused on where the joy was.

No matter what happens today, 

shake it off and stay focused on where joy is found ...

And even if your day goes from bad to worse and you still can't "shake it off", remember the next best thing you can do is start over, ANYTIME.  You can reboot your day whenever you what, where ever you want because it is up to you.  Your life is what you make of it so decide to make it the best of it.

Now Shake! Shake! Shake! Shake! ...