How often do you let other people change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day?

The hallmark of a successful person is how quickly he can get back his focus on what's important.

David J. Pollay tells his story this way.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station, New York. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by few centimeters!

The driver of the other car, who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head out and started yelling all bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy, before resuming driving forward.

Perplexed, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!"

Quite nonchalantly he told me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck." "Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump it on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish him well, and move on. You'll be happy you did."

I started thinking, how often did I let garbage trucks run right over me? And how often did I take their garbage and spread it to all around - at work, at home, on the streets? Then and there I decided: "I'm not going to do it anymore."

Love the people who treat you right. Forget the ones who don't.

Debbie