I spend much of my day answering the same question, both in person and on the phone: “How is it going?” or “How are you doing?” or “What’s going on?” or “How was your weekend?”.  And, the answers are typically the “non-answer”.

“Hanging in there!”

“Almost Friday!”

“My weekend was too short!!

I noticed that when I gave the typical “sitting in neutral” response to the question when I ask the same question in return, I get the exact same response.  “Hanging in there too.”

And, then we part ways.  “Well, you have a great day!!”  to which the response is “You have a great day too!!”

Well anyway, I was getting bored with these interactions so I have been trying something different recently.  It was sort of a scientific experiment.

“How are you doing?” I am asked.

My response was a bit different.

“I am doing fantastic.  Absolutely amazing!  I really believe that it is not humanly possible to be doing any better than I am doing at this very moment in time!  I am walking through the fields of Shang-Ra-La, and I am positioned right in the epicenter of Nirvana, and yet I have completely relinquished all desires to obtain a feeling of enlightenment.  I truly believe that if you studied my mind to discover the true secrets of happiness, and you figured out what was happening inside, you would win the Nobel Prize in Science!!”

So, I have been giving this slightly more positive response over the last few weeks, but the interesting thing that I noticed is that, not only did people genuinely believe I was doing as well as I was saying but when I asked people how they were doing, they, in turn, were doing way better than a few weeks before when I simply said “hanging in there!”.

It was catching on.  People around the office were feeling better.  People would go out of their way to ask me how I am doing just because my answer made them feel better in a way.

This all reminded me when I was a teenager growing up in the Bronx.  It was a tough neighborhood.  But, we did not drink.  We did not smoke.  We did not do drugs.  But, what we did do was go to Amy P’s house – boys and girls, and we would cram into her bedroom while she would put on the Carpenters’ Greatest Hits album, and we would all sing the songs.  We would all be screaming at the top of our lungs the lyrics to “On Top of the World.”

Such a feelin’s comin’ over me
There is wonder in most every thing I see
Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eyes
And I won’t be surprised if it’s a dream

I’m on the top of the world lookin’ down on creation
And the only explanation I can find
Is the love that I’ve found ever since you’ve been around
Your love’s put me at the top of the world

Somethin’ in the wind has learned my name
And it’s tellin’ me that things are not the same
In the leaves on the trees and the touch of the breeze
There’s a pleasin’ sense of happiness for me

I’m on the top of the world lookin’ down on creation
And the only explanation I can find
Is the love that I’ve found ever since you’ve been around
Your love’s put me at the top of the world

As we all get together this Thanksgiving, we do not forget all the CrankaTsuris there is in the world.  But, let us stop and be grateful for just a moment, and bring our “Top of the World” game to the table.  You will be surprised at how quickly everyone will want to join you.

“So we learned to be careful not to express our inner TyrantoCrankaTsuris or TyrantroKvetchaTsuris too often.  Just the right amount to keep the planet happy and not too cranky.”