Gratitude
The statistics are staggering. Forget that the US has become the laughingstock of the world with little to no coordinated response to COVID-19. Forget that the media and elected officials are on a daily drive to mutual destruction with volleys of fake news, tweets, and bitterness that this crisis can’t seem to overcome. A good crisis usually builds unity, with everyone coming together for the good of the whole. Not this time — at least not in the US. Small businesses are dying by the thousands according to what I read on Bloomberg three minutes ago. There are an estimated 40 million people out of work. I’ve read staggering stats about the potential loss of homes and evictions.
But then we are reminded of human nature at its best. One woman’s quest to raise money and give it away to those in need made yesterday’s news. And this week, one colleague’s simple question to me asking how I was doing had the same uplifting effect.
It doesn’t take much. Gratitude is such a simple thing and so incredibly infectious. It’s times like this that teams shine. This past week, when I was asked how I was doing, I felt supported in spades.
It was a routine call to advance a project for a client. I asked my team member how he was doing and what I could do for him and we went back and forth. And at the end of the call, he asked: “How are you doing, Anthea? How are you holding up? Anything I can do for you?”
He proceeded to tell me about a note he received on his LinkedIn feed and told me I had to read it. He sent it to me; my eyes teared up. He thanked me for the opportunity to work at Outsell and for the fact that we still had jobs.
Our Q2 was hard. We made moves last year that saved us this year, relying more on variable staff, canceling events we didn’t want to take into 2020, and reducing our office space. Call me prescient, or call me lucky, but all those decisions last October saved our bacon deep in the belly of March, April, May, and June this year.
Yes, our team has sacrificed. We all have. We reduced salaries to preserve jobs and, with that reduction, we did our best to reduce hours commensurately so we could keep people whole at whatever level we could.
That my colleague took the time to check in on me, express gratitude, and let me know he appreciated his circumstances — that filled the well. Gratitude will do that.
In my book Magic in the Mundane, I write about gratitude. I also write about living one’s life with glasses that are either half empty or half full. As Mr. Maclaren wrote, if you have a job, food on your table, a roof over your head, and a healthy family, you are blessed right now. Do something to help others. Count your blessings. Gift gratitude.
Thank your spouse for holding down the fort, the family, and a job. Let your kids pitch in around the house and thank them for the extra help. Thank your colleagues for a job well done, a positive comment in a meeting, or for lending a hand to a fellow teammate. Thank your leader for their tireless effort, no matter how you think they’re doing. Ask someone how they are and what you can do for them, no matter who you are or what your role.
Gratitude is infectious. It builds on itself. And it’s so much better than the snark in the press, the vitriol, the political hyperbole, and the constant, constant, constant rain of bad news about the pandemic and so much else wrong in our world.
Instead, go on a news diet, shut off the screen, turn off the spigot of negativity. Spend more time saying thank you. Spend more time thinking about what you have, what works, what blessings surround you. Focus on positivity. Focus on gratitude.
One small gesture from a colleague. That day he delivered wow and it took no time, energy, or anything else. That’s what’s amazing about gratitude: It is free and it has a place everywhere. Take some with you to work today.