No floaties!

Hello All,

When was the last time you had unrestrained joy about accomplishing a new skill or completing a new task? I thought about that this Labor Day weekend after watching Miss H, one of my adorable great-nieces, jump off the side of the dock into the lake’s cool water with NO FLOATIES! (I have the video to prove this momentous occasion.) The excitement – the joy – the “look Phyllis!” – the incredible sense of accomplishing a brand new skill, one that she had been working diligently to do. Plenty of swimming lessons – plenty of jumping into the water with her floaties on – plenty of tentative steps forward and then a pause. What a big step to jump without her floatation devices, her safety net, if you would. (Trust me – there were plenty of human safety nets! Just not me, since I can’t swim a stroke! Though God knows that Bob and the staff at the YMCA tried to teach me. )

It made me think – when was the last time that I had that sense of accomplishment? Or maybe it is more accurately this – when did I allow myself to recognize and/or feel/celebrate that sense of accomplishment?

The truth is we accomplish things every day. The bed got made – the dishes got washed (actually one of my favorite household chores because you get to see a positive result right away, unlike almost anything else we do as leaders) – the report at work was completed – the problem contract was fixed – difficult conversations were had. We learn new skills because of work or a hobby or a life goal.

So why don’t they feel like accomplishments? I think part of it is we don’t take time to celebrate something well done or even just done; instead we move on to the next “task”. We hurry to get to the next thing on the to do list so we can feel productive. We don’t want to appear like we are gloating because the task got done. We don’t think the accomplishments that are needed to just survive every day, personally and professionally, are as important.

An anonymous person said, “The harder you work for something, the greater you feel when you achieve it.” But is that what we really do? Or do we just have a sense of relief? Do we think we are just doing our job? And we may be, but it was still a huge task or new skill! Is it because we “must” be so serious about work that we lose the joy in what we do, what we have chosen to do? What holds us back from having that sense of accomplishment and joy?

Now I am sure that if I screamed excitedly when every task was done, I would get more than one interesting look! However, it is certainly okay to be jumping with joy on the inside (or “screaming inside my heart”). It is okay to celebrate when a big task is accomplished – individually or as part of a team. It is okay to be excited about the new skill you have acquired. It is okay to celebrate new milestones and achievements.

The anonymous person also said this, “Every accomplishment begins with the decision to try.” Celebrate the decision to try. Celebrate the decision to take the next step. Celebrate when you get it right – and even if you don’t get it right, celebrate because you just knocked out one way it didn’t work, and now you can try again. Celebrate that task being completed. Celebrate when you master that new skill, great or small. Don’t you think it will help bring back some joy in your job, in your life?

It is okay to celebrate when you jump into the deep end without your floaties!

Phyl