(Can’t see the video? Then try watching it at Work Happy Now - The Hard, The Fun and The Beautiful – God Hugging Butterflies Edition)
Where we are free to talk about the hard, the fun, and the beautiful of our work week.
This week was filled with anxiousness. I couldn’t wait to get to lunch. I couldn’t wait to get home. I couldn’t wait to get to bed.
Maybe because Thanksgiving was soon to arrive. I’m still not sure, but it was a struggle.
It was sad.
I’m all about working in the moment, but this week I just felt like I was grasping and missing every time. Now that Thanksgiving has arrived I look back over the week and wonder why I struggled so much. Life really is a mental game. When we have the right attitude, feel good, and are surrounded by good people it makes things so much easier. The thing is we can’t always have all the right pieces in place to make things easy to enjoy.
That’s why we need to give thanks to the days where we struggle. It’s all a part of helping us grow into a more resilient person.
Before I begin…
I want to take a moment to thank all my readers. Without you I wouldn’t have the motivation to continue. I bow in gratitude to your generosity and love. For those of you in the USA I hope you have the best Thanksgiving ever.
Let’s begin:
Hard
Contentment. I had trouble enjoying where I was at this week. Every time I was in a situation, I wanted to be somewhere else. I have often struggled with this itch, but it hasn’t been so strong as this past week. It particularly hit me hard during my commute. I wanted to be in front of the car in front of me and when I would figure out a way to get in front of that car I would try to get in front of the next car. I was never happy. I think I’m going to practice driving behind a slow driver and trying to enjoy myself. Sometimes we need to challenge ourselves to become happier.
Fun
Cold Calling. I’ve been cold calling organizations to see if they need a speaker at their next meeting. This isn’t easy, but it’s fun to talk with people about work happiness. I try not to do the hard sell. I figure that most people want to be happy at work, it’s just a matter of understanding what needs they are looking to fill and deciding whether I can find a way to help them.
Beautiful
Butterflies. Living in Texas, I’ve had the opportunity to witness the butterflies as they have begun their migration south. They were all over the place. I actually had to slow down my driving so not to kill too many. I wonder if God will eventually help them evolve so they can fly a certain height (above car level), so they don’t get squished. It was cool to just allow my mind go off on this concept for a few minutes. I imagined a big hand coming down from the clouds, then shrinking to the size of a butterfly, hugging the butterfly very gently and from that point on the butterfly would have this instinct to fly high until it is above grass or flowers.
What about you?
What has been hard, fun and beautiful in your life? I’ll see you in the comment section.
Are you on Twitter? Then check me out at @workhappynow. I give stress relief tips, happiness ideas, and cool quotes that save the day.
***
I'm extra grateful for Havi of the Fluent Self. She has taught me a lot about being compassionate to myself. Check out her post, "The lost art of not jumping." You'll love it.
If you enjoyed this post you will probably like:
Hi Karl. I came to your blog via a comment you left at Havi's. I'm so glad to have found you, and this wonderful oasis you've created. I'm excited to return and check things out more thoroughly but, for now, I'll jump into the Hard, Fun, Beautiful game with you:
Hard - Dancing gracefully with Traditionalists... honoring their enthusiasm for customs that tend to stress me out.
Fun & Beautiful (combo) - Celebrating the 1-year anniversary of my online baby with this post:
http://lifeblazing.com/2009/11/26/happy-1-year-birthday-joyful-work-for-sensitive-people/
I love your idea of God hugging butterflies. Interestingly, I see them as greatly evolved already... when you consider what they started life as. LOL. Oh, here's a relevant quote/proverb you may already know: "Just when the caterpillar thought its life was over, it changed into a butterfly." Maybe transformation is the ultimate hug?
Hi Erika, I love how you phrased your hard stuff. It is a dance. We have to learn to ebb and flow with the people in our lives, even when we think they are wrong. Butterflies are perfect, it's just that I hate killing them. Hmmm, maybe it's us that need to stop driving cars 60 mph. We should take a page from them and slow down a little. 🙂
Hi Karl,
I think your being unhappy in traffic is a great analogy for life and the pursuit of happiness. If we don't live happy in the present moment no matter what we want when we get there we see another "thing" we "need" too be happy. There will always be a car ahead of us, a bigger house, a nicer job etc.
I love butterflys and have always wanted to go to Mexico to see where they all live for the winter. I can't even imagine there being so many they get hit by cars.
The hard: I haven't ran for three weeks so a simple 3 mile run was sooooooo difficult. Augghhh!
The fun: Laughing.
The beautiful: Being grateful, family and helping others.
Yeah for you on calling organizations for speaking positions. It means you're serious;)
> Life really is a mental game. When we have the right attitude, feel good, and are surrounded by good people it makes things so much easier.
Well put, and indeed it is.
I used to try to shape events, but eventually I realized it's more about learning how to respond. When you know you can handle any curve ball that life throws your way, that's the ultimate mindset.
Sure is hard to be in the moment when we're not accustomed to it. But practice and awareness makes perfect. About your closing question, here's mine:
Hard - Focus. Life is full of distractions and getting locked on a goal can be very challenging.
Fun - Play. This is the best activity to unclogged the mind.
Beautiful - Rainbow. I saw one a while ago and it's mystifying and beautiful. 🙂
Hey Karl
I love the idea of the cold calling. It may not be easy, but I bet it opens up a lot of new doors, and it is always an excellent experience and opportunity to talk to new people and see what their needs are in general.
My hard was probably not getting as much done this week as I would have liked. In fact, where did the week go?
Fun = I went back to my old workplace to do my first presentation there for a classroom and it was so awesome! It reminded me how much I love talking to groups/people/kids and teaching....Made me get more motivated to get myself in gear and get out there to talk to people!
Beautiful = Brainstorming for a new home location, in a more natural setting with my husband.
Have a great new week!!!!
"I think I’m going to practice driving behind a slow driver and trying to enjoy myself."
That would be REALLY hard.
I think most Zen masters must have been non drivers.
I bet the Buddha himself walked to work...
Hi Karl,
Thanks for sharing your experiences with the butterflies. It must have been so magnificent to see so many of them at once . I remember seeing a whole bunch of Monarch butterflies near Santa Cruz (CA),a few years ago in February and it was incredible to think that these tiny, fragile looking creatures migrate such huge distances every year. It's great you were aware of when you were not in the present moment over the last week. I'm also glad to hear that Havi's posts are helpful in learning to be compassionate and patient with yourself when having a human moment. Just the other day I was reading about how the real value in learning mindfulness practices is not so much about actually getting the mind to stay focused on the present moment but (1) gradually becoming more adept at recognizing when the mind chases after the next butterfly thought instead of just letting it flutter by, and (2) developing patience, compassion and kindness for one's self as one learns to just accept the nature of the mind as it is. It sounds like you are having fun getting out there and making new contacts and pushing past the difficulties you may feel about cold calling. My feet start feeling frost-bitten at the mere thought of having to do cold calls.
Here's my hard, fun, and beautiful overview for the week.
Hard: Sitting with a fair amount of uncertainty in my life at the moment and just allowing it to be as I am well aware that trying to prematurely force a conclusion or direction will likely result in a bigger mess and no butterfly at the end of the transformation process. Part of this whole process involves doing some downsizing, so I'm also getting some interesting lessons in detaching from some of my material stuff so I can let it go. The biggest challenge has been sorting through my books.
Fun: My "What's Your Tree" Circle had our celebration circle on Thursday evening, so we had a fabulous vegetarian potluck feast and had a great time expressing appreciations and acknowledging accomplishments. While it also felt a bit sad because it marked the official "end" of our circle time, I think it's also exciting because there will be some new beginnings and collaborations and ongoing support between people in the group. That is the beauty of a circle--no end and no beginning.
Beautiful: It actually stopped raining for a couple of days and just seeing the sun in a blue sky and a dusting of snow on some of the local mountains was beautiful to me on those days.
I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend and experiences a happy, peaceful week.