weekly resolution

In a seminar I went to on Tuesday, the speaker stated that on average, 77% of the things we say are negative. (I haven't confirmed or researched the validity of this statistic, I'm just passing along some information).

That got me thinking: I'm a huge complainer. If the average person is 77% negative, I must be in the upper 90th percentile. I'm often so negative and self-deprecating that I make Conan O'Brien look like a perpetual optimist.

Take, for example, this (somewhat abridged) email exchange I had with a friend about configuring my powerbook:

Me:
Not a high priority, but i followed your blog instructions for configuring the proxy, and i still can't access [an internal website] on my powerbook. Maybe it's https:// that fails?

Friend:
like i said in im you need secure proxy too

Me:
i'm so dumb

Friend:
u'r !dumb, i'm so busy

Well, I instead should have said that he was really smart (which he is), but at least one good, positive thing came out of this: my friend invented a new contraction, and elementary school grammar will never be the same.

So I guess this post will be the start of my resolution for this week: I'll be average-negative instead of super-negative.

For those what want measurable metrics, my negative, complainy comments and self-deprecating statements will be 77% or less of the things that come out of my mouth. (But what I write in my blog is a whole other matter).