Yesterday was not a great day at work. One of those days where you start to wonder if you really chose the right profession. Those feelings always pass, but sometimes people can really ruin your day, your confidence, and your self-worth. Joy thieves. They are rampant.
However, not everyday is this way. On Monday I had a patient, an 11 year old boy, and he was by far and away the happiest person I believe I have ever met. Seriously. This little boy was so happy about everything. School was great, he loved fifth grade because he had the best teacher ever. He loved learning, learning was fun. Coming to the dentist was fun and he loved getting to pick out his flavor of fluoride. Fluoride was the coolest part of the dentist. Picking out a Halloween costume had been the event of the weekend. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas - he couldn't pick a favorite holiday because each one was special. He wasn't just hyper or little-kid-excited. This little boy was genuinely happy about anything and everything. I kept thinking to myself, "Man, if I had this much joy...." Joy is really the proper word to use. This little boy had so much joy for the world. For life. Often times I have children as patients and I find myself rolling my eyes or feeling frustrated. Instead, this little guy was interesting to talk to, and his joy was contagious. Just being around someone like that made my day better. I was in such a great mood after chatting with this patient. Wow. How much better would the world be if we were all like this? If we could just ooze joy?
This weekend I was sitting on the couch in my pjs drinking a cup of coffee while flipping through a magazine. It was nearing that time of day when you should consider taking a shower and changing into real clothes. As is typical for me on a Sunday, I felt a bit of melancholy at that moment. Showering and putting on clothes would signal the downward spiral of my weekend into Monday. After the real clothes go on it is only a few hours before the laziness ends and the workweek begins. I'm never quite prepared to part with my lazy Sunday. I enjoy having those few hours of me time to do whatever I want - read a book, play online, find a vacation deal, online shop, watch a movie. I don't like it to end. Right around this moment I came across an article in my magazine which was talking about how you can help improve your mood and find long lasting happiness if you consciously name things you are grateful for every day. I read that, thought about it, and then named off five (somewhat trival) things I was grateful for... and wouldn't you know, thinking of those things made me feel a little spurt of happiness. Hmmm. Crazy how that works.
This leads me to the point at hand. For the last few years I have had friends on Facebook who post something they are thankful for everyday during the month of November - a 30 days of thanks. Not that these posts are earth-shattering - a lot of them are, "Day 13 - I am thankful for naps." But. Forcing yourself to find something to be thankful and grateful for each day can't be a bad thing. Maybe by having some self reflection I can bring a little bit more joy to myself, and possibly to others.
So, I introduce to you Project Joy: Kirsten's 30 Days of Thanks. I know it might be a stretch of me to blog every day of the month of November when some months I only post once in the entire month... but I am up for the challenge. Stay tuned. Maybe you'll find yourself with a bit more joy.
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