Negotiate a different life

I went to a union meeting a few weeks ago and had a few thoughts about the negative conversations during the course of the meeting.

At one point the union president said he knew the teacher contract negotiations were going to be a knock down, drag out kind of a fight.

I wanted so desperately to tell everyone assembled that this didn’t have to happen.

I wanted to explain that it doesn’t have to be like that but I didn’t want to be labeled a crazy, happy seeking freak so I kept my little mouth shut and decided to share my thoughts in a different way.

I believe words have power and we get to choose thoughts that make us happy and bring us whatever our heart desires.

What if the final negotiating meeting went like this:

Union President: I’m so happy to let you know most of our demands were approved by the administration and the school board. They are giving us a generous raise for the next four years, cut the number of weekly professional meetings by half, will contribute to our retirement fund which equals a additional pre-tax savings, reduced our health insurance payments and created a happy teacher liaison to help us deal with all the stress we so willingly want to get rid of.

Teacher 1: Mr. President you’re kidding right?

Union President: You know I asked the Assistant Superintendent the exact same thing when he called me into his office this morning. He said they crunched the numbers last night and wanted to give us a contract we’d be happy to ratify. He also said the administration wanted to reward us for a job well done during the past four years and this was their way of thanking us and encouraging us to keep up the good work.

Teacher 2: What?

Union President: Exactly! We got everything we wanted and a few things that weren’t even on the table.

Teacher 3: How in the hell did this happen?

Union President: I have no idea.

Teacher 4: I know. Remember how we decided to approach the whole process differently before our first meeting? Remember how we listed what we really wanted and then one by one began to explain how we would feel when we received exactly what we wanted?

Remember how we all screamed with delight just imagining how exhilarated we would feel when it happened?

Union President: Yea, I remember. That was the most fun I’ve ever had before a union negotiation meeting. Every time things got a little tense I remembered how much fun we had and I felt very calm and in control.

Teacher 3: I just remember writing we got everything we want and a whole lot more over and over on my legal pad during the meeting. Just writing this made me look at things a lot differently.

Union President: Is that what you were writing? I thought you were taking the minutes of the meeting. I guess that explains why you seemed to have a permanent grin on your face.

Teacher 3: I didn’t know I was smiling. It just made me feel good.

I know you may think I’ve lost just a wee bit of my mind, but I haven’t.

Life can be just like that.

All you need to do is figure out what you want and then imagine how glorious it will feel having it or being it or seeing it like the teachers did before their big meeting.

Flowing some feel good energy to any situation makes a world of difference.

It ends war.

It heals the body and changes the molecular makeup of cells.

It reduces tension and calms the mind and body.

Research shows that when police officers enter a dangerous situation with a calm and relaxed demeanor criminals willingly surrender.

So how about you think about one thing in your life that you’d like to change and write how you would feel if everything worked out just the way you wanted it to.

Then you get to remember these feelings every time you start to fret or worry or feel troubled about that thing you just thought about.

Try it for a week and let me know how it works.

As for me I’m seriously thinking about sending this blog to the union president and the negotiating committee because it can really be just that easy.

Until next week,

Sheryl