Be more Horst, less Mikey

I used to work with a fellow named Horst. He was the most positive person I have ever known. No matter what the topic of conversation, he would never have a negative thing to say. Never. If we were ragging on the Yugo (I'll be dating myself with this post, but trust me, the Yugo was a rag-worthy car), Horst would say, "oh, I don't know, the Yugo comes in some nice colors." I swear, if he had been asked to sleep on a bed of nails he would say, "Great! If my back is itchy, I'm all taken care of!"

Me on the other hand? At the very next job, the people that worked for me started calling me "the Mikey of computers." This was in reference to a Life cereal commercial (told you I would be dating myself) where the kids said Life cereal? Give it to Mikey - he doesn't like anything! I had developed the habit and reputation for finding the flaws in things.

Horst, as the name might suggest, was German. Not only that, he came to the U.S. as a 12 year-old, not so very long after the war. So he told me, he developed this positive thinking and attitude so that he could fit in, not be considered too "German."

And hey, a name like Kutzer! So as I age, I tell myself to be more like Horst and less like Mikey. I can't help myself sometimes - I can definitely be a "what's wrong with this picture" kind of thinker. But if I can take a pause, reflect. and find the positive, things will go a little smoother. After all, there's positive in almost anything.