I did other things to mitigate my mood:
• I fought for warmth by getting a snack on my morning break, tomato-orange soup from the PDX Flying Elephants Delicatessen plus hot coffee. And I sipped the soup, like it was a really thick tea; didn't need a spoon.
• I paid attention to dogs. Seriously, it helps, especially as I'm a dog person. Plenty of dogs come through the airport, as pets or as service animals. I appreciate them from afar; most of the time there, the dogs are either working or likely in an unfamiliar situation, and me going up and going "Aaaaah! Can I pet 'em?" isn't fair to them. Why if I scared one? But I can still see them being good dogs, and smile at them being good dogs.
• I sat and rested, when I could. This job keeps me moving a lot, and getting a little bit of respite helped me recharge a bit.
• Some of the music that went through my head: John Williams's "Theme to Superman." GOOD MOTIVATION MUSIC. And at lunch, I briefly sat next to Beaches Restaurant, which plays mostly feel-good pop hits, a lot of it the songs I heard on Top 40 in the Eighties.
• I was honest with myself that I was having a frustrating day. I didn't deny it; instead I told myself "I want to have better days than this." There will be better days.
• I got to train. I help teach some of the people who are starting the same type of job I do, and doing that today helped me to focus on Doing A Thing. I don't want to train someone badly just because my day's frustrating.
• Inspired by the CD labels that say “PARENTAL ADVISORY: EXPLICIT CONTENT,” I wrote out the phrase “PARENTAL ADVISORY: EXPLICITLY AWESOME.”
So. I did what I could. Then I got home (early, in fact), had a nice bath, ate a filling dinner, and relaxed.
Can tomorrow be better?
