I recently reached out for help from three different service providers and the difference among them was striking. Two of the people I spoke with sounded as though they had no interest in my problem and as if they didn’t care about fixing it.
The third person listened to my issue, asked questions, and quickly fixed the problem.
And yet, isn’t joyfully serving others a large part of our lives?
Think about it. Each of us serves others no matter what work we do.
As people of faith , we must constantly be aware of our own emotional state and guard against it negatively impacting our interactions with others. Our goal should be to perform our work in a way that radiates Christ’s light.
Here are 5 strategies to help you do that.
Be fully at work when you’re at work. Our lives are stressful and over-scheduled. It’s easy to let a fight with our spouse or frustration with something breaking down to enter our workplace with us. But that only starts our workday on a foundation of negative emotions.
As you head to your worksite – whether it’s the spare bedroom in your apartment or across town – take inventory of how you’re feeling. Do what you need to in order to get yourself into the right frame of mind so your actions will be focused on serving your customers in a sensitive and caring way.
**Think positive thoughts. **All feelings start as a thought. It’s impossible to feel sad with you’re thinking happy thoughts. Listen to what you’re saying – in your head and out loud – and how those statements make you feel. Calling someone a jerk in your head is only going to help you associate bad feelings with that person.
Hang a mirror at your desk. What do you look like when you’re frustrated? My eyebrows tend to squeeze together over my nose and my eyes get a little squinty. Seeing what I look like at that time helps me recognize when negative emotions are taking control.
**Use bookmarks for a quick pick up. ** Label a “favorites” section in your web browser as “break time” or some other easy to remember label and save things that make you smile and help you relax. It could be nature images, cute animals, or something silly. They need to be powerful enough to work in a few minutes. If you don’t have that as an option then create a folder with resources you can pull out when you need them.
Be faith focused and action oriented. When problems come up during the day, take a few seconds to ask yourself how you can use the challenge to radiate the love of Christ while taking action to solve the problem. Jesus often healed people by taking action. Sometimes He told people their faith had led to the outcome they wanted but most of the time He had to actually do something to heal the person, whether he made a paste out of mud and put it on the person’s eyes or took them by the hand to help them up. Connect with your faith and then act consistently with it.
We must remain aware of the challenge to put our faith into action every single day and act consistently with that faith no matter what circumstances come our way. It continues to be the greatest challenge we have as faithful people.
A serious car accident left me with brain damage and other injuries that forced me to leave my job as director of human resources for the local chapter of a national nonprofit in order to concentrate on my recovery.
I was certainly thankful to be alive. I wanted to make sure I did not waste this second chance I had been given and I realized my life had gotten very out of alignment with my stated beliefs. I have worked hard to create a life that is more in sync with my faith and I knew I had to share that message with the world.
My focus now is to help others grow and to continue growing myself.
I am an independent marketing consultant and I work out of my house. I help brick and mortar businesses grow and serve their customers better. I stay focused on serving others, being a good steward of the environment, and most of all, living every moment as aligned with my faith as I possibly can be.