The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy

George’s car has a flat tire. It’s Monday morning, there’s an important meeting at work, and George can’t afford to be late. He runs back into the house, brushing aside his kids’ cheerful greetings, grouses to his wife, then begs her to give him a ride. Irritated, she answers that she has way too many errands and suggests he take the bus. Insulted, George demands, “Who takes the bus?” She says, “You do” (4).

George makes the mile-long trek to the bus stop. By chance, he gets there just as the 11 bus arrives. The driver, a woman, greets him cheerfully. George tries to ignore her and finds a seat. Her smile won’t quit. She asks where he’s headed; he tells her he’s going to the NRG Company, the light bulb manufacturer. She tells him her name is Joy and that he will enjoy the ride. He doubts it.

Joy has seen passengers like George many times: “Lifeless. No kick in their step […] Dimmers” (6). Joy’s mission is to re-energize them; to that end, she drives the Energy Bus. She tells George that there’s a reason why everything happens, that there’s a curse and a gift in every problem, and we can select either one. She advises him to choose wisely.

That evening, at the car repair shop, George learns his brakes were about to fail; the manufacturer had sent out a notice, but George had thrown it away. The flat tire was good luck because now the brakes can be fixed. The replacement part, however, will take two weeks to arrive. George bemoans the delay: “Just one more inconvenience for an inconvenient life” (10).

George decides against calling his wife for a ride and instead walks the two miles from the repair shop to his home. He works hard to provide a good life for his family, and he loves his kids and enjoys reading to them. But lately his life has been going badly. Last night his wife threatened to divorce him unless he did something about his constant negativity. His team at work struggles and bickers, and his own job is in danger. George vows to change, but he’s at a loss for how to do so.

As he walks home, feeling desperate, he looks up at the sky and cries, “Please help me!” (13).

The next morning George’s wife offers to take him to work; he declines, wanting to take the bus again. He’s miffed at the driver, who he feels insulted him, but he realizes she’s right about his life being a shambles. Yesterday his boss warned him that if he didn’t put things right, he’d be fired. George thinks to himself, “I need to try to turn this around today […] How? I have no idea” (16).

George hops on bus 11, but Joy isn’t there. Instead, an unsmiling man is at the wheel. Regretting his rudeness to Joy, George resolves to make changes, starting today.

Despite his resolution, George’s team suffers more crises at work. Briefly, he thinks of firing them all, but he realizes that they’re good people and it’s him who should get the sack. The next day, at the bus stop, George looks up from his fretting to see that Joy once again is driving. He smiles.

Joy takes Tuesdays off to care for her sick father, who can no longer remember things, not even his own daughter. She tells George that everyone has problems, including her. But she loves life anyway, and she loves everyone, “[e]ven the ones who are hard to love” (20).

She asks why George is taking the bus again; he explains the two-week car problem. Joy is glad; she thinks there must be a reason. She points to a handwritten sign she put up near the mirror: “THE 10 RULES FOR THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE” (21). All the long-term bus riders learn and discuss these rules. Solemnly, she tells George that he needs them, too, and that great things will come his way if he studies them.

Surprising himself, George agrees to do so. A cheer of “Yes! Yes! Yes!” breaks out on the bus (22). George turns and notices the other passengers for the first time. Joy assures him that the people on her Energy Bus like to chant “yes” a lot. Confused and squirming, George agrees to learn the first lesson.