Build Resilient Communities

Some days going to work is a grind. Dreary commuting. Repeatedly walking in the door. How do you avoid the negativity?

Worked a lot of places in a 40+ year career, and it is not just your company. Negativity comes at us from everywhere. This time of the year doesn't help coming to work in the dark either. Nor do I like coming off daylight savings time, just feels gloomy. 

That said, here are ways make work more rewarding for yourself and your coworkers:

Gratitude starting the morning

Have a job, people & family like/love in my life. Warm bed. Decent health. I get to work with good people. Gratitude does not have to be anything big. Faith helps. Focus on the good as groggily try and get out the door.

Laugh

Councilor I know taught stressed out financial industry people to read the comic pages before starting work. Really improved teamwork, productivity and office collaboration. I listen to radio getting dressed & driving in and find something to smile about. Fortunate to laugh at my own foibles. "Those of us who can laugh at ourselves will be endlessly entertained." – Unknown

Eat healthy and exercise

If you feel good, easier when you need to put in extra effort. A walk often improves your mood. Look around for whatever makes you happy.

Learn something 

Always learning something new, might use or will be helpful in future brings joy.

Build community around you 

Smile. Greet people. Find out how they are today. Find something in common like families, hobbies, work or sports to talk about. Does not take much time. Some people respond only after 6 month to a year, and usually shocked/pleased when the breakthrough comes. Benefit comes when working/moving all over factory & offices if can say hi to one person, am okay, and then other people will work with me.

What you feel is not unusual. These are rewarding ways I learned to stay involved, productive, and enjoy my days. I plan to work another decade before a long active retirement. Enjoy your career as well.

Everyday Gratitude

Thanksgiving is not the only day we should be grateful.

Every day we have family, friends, co-workers and businesses who serve us. Yes they can annoy, irritate and frustrate us. But they care for us.

Priests, Ministers, and people guide us toward spirituality and faith.

Abundant food, not subsistence farming. The biggest problem is being overweight, not starvation.

Modern miracles of medicine cure illnesses, cancers, and diseases that shortened the lives in the past.

Physical Therapists and Chiropractors help our bodies recover.

Transportation where products from all over the world are available, and we can go anywhere.

Volunteers serve charities all over the world giving their time and unpaid efforts.

Think every morning what are you grateful?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.

Gratitude

Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday and only a small part is the eating. What it is we count blessings and good people in our lives. Think about what went right and who supported you. Keep looking for it and you will find more. Family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and more.

Even after the year’s disasters, you can see all those who volunteer and give to help others. The US is often criticized for not doing enough, but the American people are the ones that give the most.

Gratitude is the way to stay happy despite traffic, food that doesn’t turn out, people who voted differently than you, and diets ruined for a day. Actually it puts you closer to your faith.

Happy Thanksgiving, and enjoy your day.

PS - really enjoy the eating and nap in front of the football game too J

The Greatest Time to be Living

Been hearing negative statements over and over recently. Gold Bugs and Preppers believe the world is falling apart. Each political party blames the other during election years for everything and anything.

You may hear:

• ·      Times are tough.
• ·      The economy is weakening.
• ·      Jobs are being eliminate or sent to _____
• ·      Society will fail.
• ·      Currencies are going to fall.
• ·      There will be chaos.

 “Pessimism narrows our focus, whereas positive emotions widen our attention and our receptiveness to the new and unexpected.”

– Daniel Goleman

There have always been hard times, new illnesses, conflicts, wars, poverty, and innocent people starving. Even Jesus said, “You will always have the poor”.

The truth is today is the best time to be living and tomorrow will be better:

• ·      More food is grown on less land than ever.
• ·      Medical science is conquering cancer, heart disease, aging, and developing therapies to rebuild our bodies.
• ·      Computers grow faster, smaller and double in memory every year or two.
• ·      Our phones have more computing power than the mainframes I was taught on in college.
• ·      Knowledge has gone from stored on paper to abundantly spread all over the Internet.

 Nothing goes forward in a simple, straight manner. Innovation and progress are marked with false starts, failures, crashes and disasters. But we learn and keep improving daily.

Today and tomorrow will still be inconvenient, difficult, and dangerous. But tomorrow will also be better.

“Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty.”

– Doris Day