Let me tell you about a friend I had in college.  His name was Scott.  And to this day, I don’t know if I’ve met another person with as positive an outlook on life as he had.  And it wasn’t a superficial “rainbows and unicorns” outlook either.  It was a genuine desire to see the absolute good in everyone and everything.

When we would meet up on a Friday night to go to a party, he would always say the same thing: “Do you know what tonight is going to be?  The BEST…PARTY…EVER!!!”  And guess what?  It always was.  He would be the life of the party.  Guys would want to hang out with him and girls would want his phone number.  Guys would also want to hang out with me, but our similarity ends there.

We both worked as waiters at a local restaurant and whenever we’d be scheduled for the same dinner shift, I knew how the evening would start.  “Hey Jay!  Do you know what tonight is going to be?  The BEST…SHIFT…EVER!!!”  And lo and behold, seven hours later, he would be counting the huge wad of bills he had accumulated from tips earlier in the night.  Meanwhile, I was adding up all of my loose change my customers had offered up to me.

Finally, (and this one takes the cake) we would be walking into class together to take a test and…you guessed it: “Do you know what this class is going to be?  The BEST…EXAM…EVER!!!”    A week later, while Scott was relishing in his A, I was thanking God for my C.

What was the difference between Scott and myself?  Our outlook.  Our expectation.  What we expected or sought after, we found.  Now, I know this isn’t a new concept and I don’t expect anyone reading this to have a grand revelation of how to approach life.  It’s just a reminder of how powerful our mindsets can be.  Scott expected everything in life to be a grand experience and he was going to live every moment to the fullest.

I looked at most experiences as average.  And my usual C was a microcosm of how I viewed life.  Expect great outcomes and you will find them.  Expect average outcomes and you will receive them.  Expect disappointing outcomes and you have no reason to get out of bed in the mornings.

Today, I’m going to expect a fantastic time with friends and family.  I’m going to expect a record-breaking day at work.  And I’m going to thank the good Lord above that I don’t have any more exams to anticipate!