Appreciation and Happiness

The financial pain of the struggling economy and company belt-tightening are really starting to take a toll on some of the employees at work. No one likes the mandatory furlough days. OK, so people might like the time off, but no one likes the reduced paychecks. When each person is struggling to pay his or her own bills or to take care of his or her own family, it is natural to get frustrated when money is so tight. It is natural to be angry. But, in my opinion, it is only natural up to a point. Some people are really angry and really miserable. Though these are natural emotions given the times, it becomes exhausting when people are angry and miserable ALL THE TIME. The atmosphere becomes toxic when a person comes into the office every morning with a loud crash after throwing their bags, keys, water bottles, coffee mugs, or whatever on their desk. You can just sense the resentment they are feeling with just being in the office. It becomes toxic to see people stomping around the office all day with scowls on their faces. Being a Pisces I tend to feed off of the emotions of those around me. When people around me are in good moods, then my mood is happy. When people around me are angry or frustrated or in a foul mood, then that brings my mood down. I'm sure my blood pressure has been through the roof over the past week or two.

Whenever I find myself in this situation, I try to collect myself and try to calm myself down. Usually all it takes is for me to think of the people in my life who are happy and who have a more positive outlook on life. Although I have many friends who have positive attitudes, the one friend I think about often is one who unfortunately passed away several years ago. We used to work together and she had stage-four cancer. If anyone had a right to be angry or bitter or miserable or selfish, it was her. She, however, was NONE of those things. She knew her fate, but she dealt with it with quiet acceptance. She never looked for or asked for pity or sympathy.

The company we worked for at the time was in awful shape. Our CEO was incompetent, and our manager was incompetent, dumb, and ignorant. The place was run into the ground and we were all angry and upset about what was going on. My friend was upset, too, but she didn't let it overwhelm and consume her life. She knew that there are things about life that you can change and things that you can't change. There was nothing we could have changed about the company, so you sometimes just have to deal with it. She wasn't giving up and she wasn't settling, but she was being practical and keeping things in perspective. There are some things worth getting upset over, but there are many more things that aren't worth it. She knew what was important in her life and she focused on those things intently and passionately. She knew that her time left was limited, so she appreciated and cherished the things that were most important to her. In spite of whatever pain she was feeling, the love in her soul brought her a happiness that far outshines the "happiness" that I see in most of the people I know. All of this hinged on her appreciation for what she had and her willingness to let go of the petty, insignificant, and unimportant things.

My friend's attitude and approach to life does many things for me. One, it makes me disgusted to see people obsess over petty, unimportant things. But the most important thing it does for me is that it reminds me to cherish and appreciate all of the wonderful things and people I have in my life. I might not have a huge salary, I might not have a huge house, I might not have a fancy car, and I might not be able to spend money on frivolous things, but I have everything I need to survive. I'm able to pay my rent and my bills, I have a nice apartment, and I have a dependable car that will last forever. I have a wonderful and beautiful family and group of friends, and that is what I cherish most.

Recently some of my co-workers were expressing outrage over having to pay for their own meals at a department lunch to welcome a new employee. There was quite the uproar as they stomped about angrily expressing how unfair and outrageous it was for us to pay for our own lunch. Overhearing this initially made me extremely angry, and I pretty much flew off the handle and told them that they were being selfish and unwelcoming. Now it just fills me with pity. This, paying for a meal at lunch, is what causes anger and outrage? This is what can put a person into such an ugly and foul mood and ruin the rest of a person's week? Try spending three or four years of your life battling cancer. $10 or $12 for one lunch on one day doesn't sound so bad, does it?