The other day, I went for coffee in a cafe. As I waited my turn, I chatted with the person in front and learned that she wanted water. Knowing where it was, I pointed her in the right direction. She was delighted and gave me a big cheer. The interaction was a best I’ve had all day. She was positive and she was open for connection.
Now, the server, who was getting paid to be there, was overworked and a little cranky. As she took my order, she mumbled thank you, implying that I wasn’t polite in the way I spoke to her.
But what she didn’t realise was that I had helped the person in front of me and I wasn’t intentional in the way I asked for a refill. She took away the goodwill that was accumulated by the many exceptional servers that came before.
The point is this. Work is personal. We bring our energy and our mana where we go. When we don’t know that, it’s easy to think that our day sucks and people are out to get us. Where in fact, we are part of making our day and how it turns out.
We get what we give. When the world stinks, for days in a row, maybe it’s us.
