As the Happy Therapist, one of my little hobbies is to count my positives. In the Building Your Positive Muscles article I describe eight different ways to look on the bright side. One of those ways is to take something that is (at first glance) a “bad thing” and see if I can find the positive in it. I’ve done this in Happiness 101, filling entire white boards with positives about such (seemingly) tragic events as 9-11 and World War II. Today I use this same technique to explore the positive of a “no show” (when a person did not show up for their appointment for therapy): I have the opportunity to exercise patience and empathy.
I can use that extra time to get caught up on paperwork
I can use the extra time to play my guitar
I can use that time to nap
I could run that errand that I did not think I was going to get to.
I could call a friend
I could text my daughter
I could play a game on my iPhone
I could use the money from the no-show fee to buy a wide variety of things, such as clay for my new hobby, lunch with a friend or surprise someone who needs money with a little anonymous donation.
I could say a prayer that the person that has not shown up is safe.

I could go on and on, but this feels like a good stopping point 🙂

Frank Clayton, the Happy Therapist