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Christmas holiday

Christmas Reality Shows

Christmas Reality Shows

I’ve watched a lot of Christmas reality shows this year. If it isn’t a Christmas bake-off, it’s a decoration competition. I’ve watched a lot of people get very busy impressing judges for fabulous prizes.

I drew this cartoon eleven years ago. Apparently, I was watching a lot of them in 2010 as well. It still amazes me reality shows have been around that long, even longer! But it must be so because the mobile phone the elf is holding sure doesn’t hold up to today’s technology.

Cartoon of an elf and Santa Claus. The elf says, "It's another cable TV producer asking if we'd like to be in a reality show."

I hope Santa Claus doesn’t cave into the pressure. If you think we have supply chain issues now, just think what it would be if the elves had to ham it up for the cameras! Does anything really get done on those shows? I’d like to see how productivity fared before and after one of these programs invades a company!

Reality gets distorted when a camera is on. If you Google “Cameras in the Courtroom Effects,” you’ll get plenty of examples where cameras affected a trial. Reality is rarely recorded before a camera. How many of us ham it up for a photo, or stage a shot for social media?

I will still watch the occasional reality show. But I am under no allusion that I’m watching reality. I hope Santa agrees with that too.

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Christmas holiday

Good News and Bad News

Good News and Bad News

“Bad news travels at the speed of light; good news travels like molasses.”

Tracy Morgan Via BrainyQuote.com

We have no trouble finding bad news. It practically hits us in the face every time we turn around. Doom and gloom is a trillion-dollar business. We would like to think that we prefer the good, but there is something within us that reacts more strongly to the bad. How much gossip is about the good qualities of a person anyway?

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.”

Luke 2:10 (KJV) via Bible Gateway

On the night the Messiah was born, glad tidings didn’t go to the Roman Emperor, though he ruled the known world. It didn’t go to the puppet king of Israel. In fact, when he eventually heard the good it, he reacted very negatively.

Lowly Shepherds

The people that the world thought mattered didn’t hear the good report that night. If they did, they would have kept it to themselves anyway. Good news travels generally travels like molasses!

Instead, it went to lowly shepherds. When they saw it, they did their best to share it with everyone. Still, the family of the newborn Messiah was able to keep a low profile.

Glad Tidings This Christmas

As a result, in the last couple of years, Christmas has taken a back seat to all the bad. There is plenty of bad news to go around.

  • The pandemic drags on and a new variant threatens to spread like wildfire
  • Tornadoes caused death and destruction to America’s midsection
  • Nations continue saber rattling

Therefore, we need a little joy. We need a little Christmas, even though the first one was humble and mild. We need a savior, a redeemer. Yes, we need a hero. But having someone come to save us usually doesn’t make the news. It makes for great stories, but not click-bait headlines.

Let’s pause, take a breath, and look for the good. It is out there. After all, we can do something good. There are plenty of needs out there. We don’t have to single-handedly save the world, but we can help one person, one family at a time. Let’s be kind in a world that has forgotten how to be gentle.

We can make some good news. Our actions may not travel fast and furious across the world, but they can make a big difference this holiday season.

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motivation

Getting Better or Worse

Getting Better or Worse

“Any time you stop you stop striving to get better, you’re bound to get worse.”

Pat Riley quoted in:
Jerome, Jerry. Instant Inspiration: Using Quotes to Guide You to Your Goals. 1st ed.
Instant Wisdom Publishing, 2003. 

There is no middle ground when it comes to growth. Either we are getting better or worse each day. Either we are contributing to the solution or part of the problem.

The temptation in life is just cruise through. We tend to gravitate towards comfort and inactivity. As we get older, we tend to think growth is behind us. But nothing can be further from the truth!

Our growth is not limited by our age. Physically, we may have stopped growing years ago. (Or at least, we stopped growing vertically and began growing horizontally!) But there is always something to learn. There is always a new challenge to confront and solve. Life is much more than just cruising into obscurity.

A Choice to Grow or Fade Away

When I began my graphic design career, many of the older designers were resistant to computers. They had been creating layouts with materials such as rubylith and huge, bellows cameras. They knew how to create layouts quickly and efficiently. The new way of doing things felt uncomfortable. Many of them stubbornly held onto the old ways until they were forced to change, or they left their jobs and careers.

At the time, I thought surely the designers of my generation would have learned a lesson. Some have. Others are just as resistant to change. A graphic design career changed from a primarily paper and printing process to online graphics. Some have stubbornly held on. Others have faded into obscurity as new ways of doing things took hold.

Each day, we have a choice between getting better or worse. There is always a new way of doing things. Don’t get so comfortable that you resist growing and changing. Always be looking for new techniques and new technologies. Otherwise, we risk becoming irrelevant.

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wisdom

Wisdom Leads to Joy

Wisdom Leads to Joy

To be wise is to learn what is important and what won’t matter in a few years. It is to be able to discern between the foolishness of short-term pleasure and long-term satisfaction. Wisdom leads to joy while foolishness leads to heartache and regret.

“Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding.”

Proverbs 3:13 (NLT)

Someone may know how to manipulate and get their way in the short term. But what happens to the relationship with the duped victim? Another person may give in to a short-term addiction only to discover it ruins their life. None of us can predict the future. But wisdom can help us shape our future in ways that are predictable and tested through the ages.

Yesterday, I was listening to How Now Shall We Live? by Chuck Colson. In the book, he writes what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote this phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

United States Declaration of Independence

Colson’s assertion is that this opening phrase was never meant to be a license to hedonistic pleasure. John Stonestreet from the Colson Center also alludes to this and quotes Colson on a July 4, 2019, podcast. “Happiness” was not meant as an excuse to do whatever feels good. Instead, happiness comes from living a virtuous, wise life.

Wisdom causes us to pursue virtue. That pursuit leads to joy. My hope and prayer for everyone are that we take a long-term approach to life and pursue a wise life of virtue that leads to happiness and joy.

Categories
motivation

Finding Joy at Work

Finding Joy at Work

Yesterday was the third Sunday of Advent. This week’s Advent theme is joy. Now comes Monday! It is easy to think about joy when we are singing Christmas carols and contemplating the season that brings good news of great joy. But what about the rest of the week?

Yes, it is possible to find joy at work! A Harvard Business Review article, entitled Making Joy a Priority at Work, talks about why joy is an important part of the workplace. But often workplace culture gets in the way. We can be so focused on meeting sales goals, staying in our comfort zones, and resisting new ways of connecting, that we forget our emotions play a big part in success.

The writer goes on to say, “In any team environment, joy arises from a combination of harmony, impact, and, acknowledgment — all of which business leaders can engender in their organizations.” Yes, these are all qualities each of us would value and love to have in our workplaces.

Harmony

How we interact with each other brings harmony. When we are respectful, professional, and look out for each other, everyone benefits. If you ever had a child that has just started playing a musical instrument, you know how hard on the ears it is when they are just starting to play in a band. An elementary school band that hasn’t learned to play together in harmony can wreck a concert.

When we look out for our coworkers, are helpful, and destroy silos, we can work together in a harmony that brings an unbeatable competitive advantage.

Impact

Everyone wants to feel their part at work makes an impact. We want to know that what we do matters. We want to know that our idea has made a positive difference to the bottom line.

Harmony makes teams work. Impact comes both as team members and individuals. When we see that our part of the business is a valued part of the company’s success, it makes a big difference.

Acknowledgment

Everyone wants to feel acknowledged. We want to know that we are seen. If we feel we are just a number in a mindless bureaucracy, we tend to wonder if there is a point to it all. We may even make a little disharmony just to see if anyone notices. Perhaps, we stop seeing that we are making an impact.

Acknowledgment needs to come in a positive way. No one wants only to be acknowledged when they messed up. We forget that we tend to get the behavior that gets attention. If an employee only gets acknowledged for bad behavior, that is what the company will get more of.

Yes, it’s possible to have joy at work. As we get closer to Christmas, may we experience joy in our workplaces. May you receive some joy and be the giver of joy to those around you this week.