The DNA of Joy
How happy are you today?
I mean, how happy are you today – really?
Joy is something that eludes me often. I get caught up in the weight of the world – you know, North Korea, school shootings, new road construction, increasingly bad traffic on my commute, all proven “joy killers” of the world.
What I have committed to do as of late though is to look at the inside of what joy actually is.
And I have found that to be thankfulness.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalm 107:1 (NIV)
What is your joy like at work? When a co-worker does something well? When she is recognized by her boss or peers as having done a good job on a project? Do you compliment her? Do you share in the joy she has or do you just brush it off and go on with what you were doing for the day?
This week a co-worker called me over to his desk because he had just gotten confirmation that due to both of our efforts we had just saved our company over $160k. He was visibly excited about this and he is someone that normally doesn’t get excited about anything (he is a financial analyst and you know most of those folks are pretty low key as it is!). Now I was busy in a complex conversation with another co-worker right next to him at the time, and almost blew this off when he pointed it out. But because I was starting to look at thankfulness and joy a little differently lately, I actually stopped, realized what he had just pointed out, and gave him a high five right there in the office so we could celebrate! The result was he was even more excited about what we had accomplished as could be seen in his reaction after we did our high five!
I realize this is a very minor example of how thankfulness can lead to joy, but as a Real Christian Businessman, there is no reason for us not to regularly celebrate wins like this in our workplace – especially since God designed us to be joyful!
Take a moment this week to be thankful for those things that we often overlook, especially those that are happening right around you.