Musings on...Appreciation
When it comes to life, (and work) the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude. GK Chesterton
Welcome to a new episode of Adventures in Workland! This essay series was inspired by a frustrating attempt to condense decades of work experience to a one-page resume. I realized resumes are flat and lifeless representations of the vivid stories, relationships and lessons that make one a valuable part of the workforce. In this series, I will illuminate the staid bullet points and job descriptions, animating them into the full dimensional glory they deserve. I hope my stories will make you reflect and honor the value of your employment history as well. Algorithms, bots and job board filters have it wrong: You are more than the sum of your job descriptions.
I was working on a mindfulness exercise and the daily journal prompt focused on gratitude. As I thought about the subject in my life, I also thought about it in light of my experiences in the workplace. Never or rarely have I seen anything in popular culture that shows anyone loving or appreciating the place that pays the bills. Some of the best cult favorites are about hating the place and/or the people where we spend our days. Work always seems to be tolerated, made fun of or treated with disdain.
We must admit that it is a sad state of affairs. We spend more time at work with our coworkers than waking hours with our families. If we spend that much time doing it, we should have reasons that we like it, or at best, appreciate it. Jobs finance our lives, paying tuition, fueling cars, putting food on the table, funding vacations and often giving us a daily purpose. Perhaps it deserves a little respect.
Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.
Eckhart Tolle
As I understood the journal instructions, I applied them to my work history. The goal was not to catalog the big and expected icons of gratitude (thankful for family, life, health) but the minute ones. To give credence and respect to something small, because noticing the small amplifies the bigger themes. I have years of work to reflect on and be grateful for, but this is what immediately came to mind:
I’m grateful for active age diversity. When I worked at a very popular big box retailer, Tom was an elderly man that worked in customer service. When you placed an order online and came into the store for pickup, Tom was who you would see. I’m not sure how old Tom was, but he did not move fast in any way. You were sure to receive your order, but it wouldn’t be the quickest transaction. He diligently shuffled along gathering his bags as the college students zipped around him, running orders to curbside pickup. He had a great attitude and was pleasant to everyone. One day, two tween boys stopped me and asked if Tom was working. I told them it was his day off and they said to make sure he knew ‘the hooligans’ asked about him. Tom probably told them to stop horsing around near the store entrance, which was his usual post. The fact that they appreciated him was endearing. I think older workers help to keep us all in line. Seeing Tom’s work ethic and good cheer makes me aspire above all to remain healthy and ambulatory, but to stay focused and work diligently, even if the pace is a little slower.
Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.
William Arthur Ward
I’m grateful for consideration. When I worked at the call center, we were supplied with the best snacks. The days are long, but we had two break rooms filled with any creamy, crunchy, salty or chewy snack you could imagine. You were even encouraged to let them know if your favorite snack wasn’t stocked and it would be added to the list. I started the day out with good intentions with fresh fruit and nuts. I would move on to a little protein in the early afternoon, fueling a fiery chat discussion of why string cheese even existed, but I ended the day, discipline and inhibitions annihilated, with an ice cream bar or Oreos. I know the goal was to keep us caffeinated and full of adrenaline and it was successful. I'm generally not a snacker, and although I left that job, I still think about the sugary smorgasbord management provided.
Gratitude and Attitude are not challenges, they are choices.
Robert Braathe
I’m grateful for modern-day magicians. When I worked for the happiest place on earth, there was active inoculation of consideration for the guest. Since pointing is considered offensive in some cultures and we originated the concept of it’s a small world, a cast member NEVER points: you gesture with an open palm and two fingers in a direction. If someone needed directions, you don’t tell them the way, you lead them. You actually had permission to leave your post to guide a guest safely to their destination. You don’t realize you’ve become indoctrinated until you are off campus and you model that behavior to a perfect stranger. I still have to stop myself from walking people to a bathroom if questioned.
That gene for consideration applies to the cast members as well. During my first week of employment, as I was walking into the resort from staff parking, I got caught in one of Orlando’s late afternoon downpours. If you have never experienced one, the sky opens without warning and furiously dumps cold water. It only lasts 15-20 minutes, but it’s enough to create enormous puddles. Although I had an umbrella, by the time I reached the locker room, the bottom half of my costume was soaked. I was thinking about the misery of my next few hours when a housekeeper saw me. She did not speak English well and my Spanish was worse, but she marched me into the laundry room and made me remove everything from the waist down. She put my wet clothes into the resort’s oversized commercial dryer and walked out. I stood there warily in my blouse and underwear for 10 minutes, when she returned. She grabbed my items, shook them out and walked out while I dressed. I arrived at my post 5 minutes late, but warm and dry. One of the mottos we learned at orientation is “We Create Magic” and for me on that day, I realized what that mission of magic felt like.
Being thankful is not always experienced as a natural state of existence, we must work at it, akin to a type of strength training for the heart.
Larissa Gomez
I’m grateful for flexibility. After the Great Recession fueled a district-wide layoff from the pharmaceutical company, the boss that taught me the mortgage business called and said he thought I could be of service at his new position. It was an insurance agency and they needed a customer service representative. Although I knew very little about insurance, he put his faith in me again. My company car had been carted away, so we had one car for the family. I had one child in kindergarten and another in daycare. I was set on my youngest not losing ground socially and academically due to the downturn in our finances, so I was intent on keeping at least a half-day schedule for him. My former boss promised we could work it out. I met the agency owner who offered a generous flex schedule. I worked in the office in the morning, then at midday I would get my youngest from daycare and work remotely from home for the rest of the day. This was 2009: remote work was not a thing, but they set me up with the technology. On school holidays, I could bring the kids into the office. He gave me an office big enough for play space and set up monitors for their entertainment. He said he and his wife had started the business from their home, children underfoot, and understood the difficult act of balancing work and family life. Most of the support staff for his agency were women and he was generous and flexible with everyone’s schedule. As long as you managed your workload and deadlines properly, he was a great advocate. I haven’t worked for anyone since so family friendly. I’m grateful that he showed me bottom lines and families can grow together.
It's not happiness that brings us gratitude; it's gratitude that brings us happiness.
Jeremiah Say
It may seem small, thinking about snacks, nice deeds and playrooms, but that is the point of the exercise. We spend days and hours complaining about the small things that irritate us, ignoring the moments that should move us, give us pause and make us grateful. It’s just a case of changing perspective.
It's a sign of mediocrity when you demonstrate gratitude with moderation.
Roberto Benigni
As I fleshed out this post, I thought I would save it for Thanksgiving, because although it is cliched, it would have still been clever, but that holiday is weeks away. Why wait to be thankful? There is enough in our collective days of work to appreciate now and to still give thanks for in November.
Who and what do you need to appreciate more about your work?