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Blonde on the Prairie... Joy on the Job |
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Friday, 29 June 2007 |
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Yesterday, just like every other day I go to work at the Sheyenne Care Center, was a pure delight for me. The minute I walk through that door my mood transforms from plain old Jodi to Jodi with a whole bunch of joy. People recognize that joy and ask me where it comes from. I wasn’t always this joyful when I’d go to work. There wasn’t much room for joy when I was younger and worked for one reason and one reason only – the money. I think it’s high time I let you in on the secret of my joy. It took just one man in an expensive blue suit complimenting me about having an extraordinary personality to thrust me into the world of sales. I didn’t receive a lot of compliments in my life so I hung on to that one for dear life. He hired me with no experience and I was on my way. I used his compliment about my personality to hob-knob with oil executives about bio-remediation, environmental remediation and hazardous material management. I sold office supplies, machines and furniture to the Eskimos in Alaska working for large native corporations. I sold what anyone wanted me to sell and was very successful at it. I won awards and exceeded quotas. I won a trip to Hawaii and came home with many bonuses for performance. That all sounds good as I type it but my secret was that I was miserable. I hated with my whole heart the idea of selling. I hated that my livelihood was dependent on the needs of my customers and up-selling them to meet a particular level of performance. I was making plenty of money so how on earth could I feel so horrible about life? Things got a little better when I entered the realm of international sales. I was selling but this time I wasn’t doing it for sheer profit. I began selling to the Russian Far East after the wall of Communism fell. In my heart I felt bad for these people. I thought that I was helping them by selling the things they needed at an outrageously low margin. I felt like by doing so I could help them get back on their feet. It began with simple things like water filtration systems and telephones. Soon the orders began coming through for custom made pool tables and video display screens to install in Hummer vehicles. It was then that I began to question my charity. I thought I was helping Russia. All I was really doing was giving Russian multi-millionaires some really good deals.Humanitarian aid seemed more my thing. A Russian Orthodox Church in Magadan, Russia, needed a new steeple built after a windstorm blew theirs down. I was able to get everything donated and shipped for free. I believe it all came together because my heart was totally into this project. When you believe in what you’re doing joy is the outcome. I got a thank you letter from the congregation explaining that the gold leaf used for the top of the steeple was beyond an answer to their prayers. They thought I had blessed them. What they didn’t know is that they had blessed me for a lifetime.My resume shows my business background. What it doesn’t show is my heart. My heart would show you I’m a healer and a helper. I learned that working only for money will get you nothing but a paycheck. I learned that being rich had nothing at all to do with how much money you have. I learned that everyone has a gift and when they learn how to use it work becomes a joy and not a chore. I learned that I’m the luckiest girl alive because I’m able to recognize my own gifts. My wish is that you find yours so you can tap into how I feel every day at the Sheyenne Care Center. It’s so much more than a job-it’s a joy.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 20 December 2007 )
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