Ponderings #6
Dear fellow travelers,
Happy Labor Day the day after! I honor you, you, who allow your full potential to express in your work place and in your volunteer endeavors.
For those of us, who commit and extend beyond our comfort zones, and feel we can't say, No, or don't want to: We need to remember that balance is always the key to peace, taking care of ourselves first is when we are able and available to give our full potential to our work, to the other people and other areas of our lives.
Along my path I remember several individuals who seemed to me to have created their work areas to be a place of delight, joy and engagement for themselves:
For many months, a gal, who gave me my breakfast orders at the fast food drive though, was not just a blank stare; she was jolly, she laughed, she joked, she was engaging with all her customers, she was fun. I asked her one morning if she planned to stay there. She said no, after she had saved enough, she was going to go to school to be a radiologist, I trust her vision was fulfilled and she is now an asset to whatever medical center was fortunate enough to have employed her.
During my drive to work for a while there was extensive road construction. The guy who held up the "slow", "stop" sign, smiled and waved at every passing car! He impressed me so much, that I wrote a letter to the editor acknowledging what a delight he was along my drive.
Several other people wrote in , saying that they had seen him also.
I actually started to look for him in the mornings. He had turned his somewhat routine to me job into a Joy! and also my drive.
A few weeks ago a gal named Michele, went a few steps beyond her bank duties to reverse a $500 charge that had been applied to our checking account. This charge had happened after I had canceled a visa merchant acct. I wasn't aware that there was a penalty.
She seemed as excited as I was, when she called back to tell me she had done it!! Yes, she had; she was to me a delight and joy!!
Yes, there are those people who go that step beyond, and I trust we all fall into that category. I remember those people, and use them as examples for what I can do in my own jobs, to keep myself engaged. I do and Im sure most people remember when they have been treated well, and are grateful.
At our work places, we can all keep the joy going, engage, and have fun!!!! Work needs to be fun!! You may be saying, Not my job. If this is what you are thinking, let your inner voice, I call this spirit, guide you with ideas on how to create joy and fun, and see what happens. It will work.
It may seem like I am shifting gears to a totally different direction, but this was a very special happening for me, and this image keeps coming up for me to share. This was an opportunity for me to expand, experience more joy and to learn.
Several years ago, at the Special Olympics, our volunteer job was to organize the track and field events. One year when I was helping, in one of the events;
Eight little guys were on the start line to run the 100 yard dash, the signal went off, they all started to run but part way down the track; one little guy tripped and fell. A team mate saw him fall, and he stopped running, turned around and went back to help him get up, then another did, and another; Then all the runners did the same.
With their arms around each other, all eight walked across the finish line together!! Not one of them cared if they had beat the others because they were:
All winners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I still can feel the wonder of that moment. Just imagine watching that event !!!
Jesus said, "A little child shall lead them!!"
Even though I admit, I am a some times reality show watcher, but I really think:
Wouldn't it be wonderful, especially in the areas of business and government, if we, this country, and this world would change the
dogma of competition to co operation!!! What a wonderful world it would be,
SPECIAL!!!! All winners!!! All going toward the finish line together in perfect harmony!
How would this idea of cooperation play out in your work place, or are you already a team?
What do you do special to make your job or tasks more fun and engaging for yourself and others?
What can you do to take care of yourself, to be able to give more to others?
On a personal note,
I will be traveling for a few weeks in Sept, but I will answer all your emails when I return, and since I am back to my fall/winter schedule, and to follow my own to take care of myself, I will be writing to you every other week. But thinking of you often.
Just pondering,
Linda
Practitioner
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