August 3, 2009

Did you ever notice that the people who seem the least happy, talk the most negatively? And conversely, the happiest people you know seem to always have something really great to say and talk about. This is a very simple thing to think about and while you are there thinking about, hmmm, let's say, reviewing all the negative and horrible things that happened to you you today, maybe during your downer diatribe with yourself, you might throw in something that was new and fabulously uplifting to think about.

For instance. What is there in your job or your workplace that makes you happy. Or if you don't have a job, which a lot of us don't, take a moment and think about some of your past jobs, and find one that you were really content and happy with. Reside there a moment. And for all of you who say, well, I have never had a job I really liked, I think there might be a few things that if you thought hard enough, you would remember some things that made you happy about that place. Is work only a means to an end in your life, or could you possible imagine that any honest employment could have meaning and value. It just depends on your perspective. Here are my thoughts about what makes me happiest at my job:

1. D, R, A, A, C, J, P, W, A, J, J, P and all the other people I work with at my company.
2. Finding things to do to make one persons day a little better.
3. 2+2 always equals 4.
4. Having vendor resources to work with that I have known and used over and over again for years, sometimes decades.
5. Making lunch for my people.
6. Finishing a tough project in a creative way.
7. Contentedly sitting with a pile of payables that just need to get data entered into the software system, and knowing how to do it like the back of my hand and just doing it.
8. Excel
9. Having the feeling that I make a difference, and actually being told that I make a difference from someone that I respect, like my boss.
10. Excel ( I really love excel and generating spreadsheets...) That is why I put it twice.

Try to transform your work life into a place that you can be happy going to every day, rather than the other way around. Look for those places in your work life that you take for granted but actually you are content with. Try to appreciate that not all of us were born to be supermodels, (Okay that is my idea of a perfect wonderful job..your idea of job nirvana will be different) but think about being a super person, no matter what your job is.