Apr 19 2009
IN CELEBRATION OF BLOG POST # 300 . . . BACKPATS@WORK & HUGS@HOME
Winners Hug. Winners Smile.<)
OK, Mr. or Ms. Resilience, you’re an entrepreneur and business owner. You work hard long hours and you’re tough as nails. You deal with stuff every day that friends and family can’t even begin to imagine. They can’t figure out why you don’t quit at 5pm, and why you need to “work through” weekend gatherings. They think you’re nuts, but they admire your dedication. Sound familiar? Go Get A Hug!
As in the “take time to smell the flowers” advice, go get a hug! Too many people go through days without hugs and the withdrawal takes its toll; it chips away at the inner layers of authenticity. One of the world’s greatest family therapists, teacher/author Virginia Satir, always urged people to give and get 12 hugs a day! It was, she said, the only way to grow as a human being. Hugs motivate, she said.
Many other emotional management experts in business and organizational development say the only way to be truly successful in business is to grow as a human being, to develop your personal authenticity and keep a sense of balance in your life. Everyone has a different way of dealing with and conquering these challenges. Giving and getting hugs is universally reassuring and effective.
What does your hug scorecard look like for today? Yesterday? Was your last hug one you initiated, one that was delivered to you, or a spontaneous event? Was it a real one or one of those token little brush of cheeks and or shoulders? Chest contact? Forced smiles? “So nice to see you again, dear.”
Ah, yes, and the bear hugs that come along every once in awhile from some well-intrentioned oaf who never took Hugs 101 in school and sees the occasion as time to lift you off the ground, sometimes so quickly you can’t get your hands out of your pockets!
Well, let’s agree to limit the hug thing to family and friends. Besides, these days, you might get arrested hugging a co-worker or student or patient or client.
So what’s the next best thing you can practice in work-settings that will help move you along the path to authenticity? Why pats on the back of course! Who among us doesn’t enjoy getting a backpat for a job well done, or well attempted, or for any small deed that rises above the daily clutter? That’s it? hugs and backpats?
Well, no, actually, as long as you keep yourself in that genuiness frame of mind, there’s “Please” and “Thank you” and “I love you” [Also: I <3 U] and “I appreciate you” …and the most important motivator of all is the simplest. It’s called a smile. ;<) Pass it on as many times a day as you can possibly get your brain to think of it. Smiles work wonders!
It’s so easy to lose sight of these important messages that you need to give out often and freely, when you’re caught up in rushing toward a deadline, or fretting over a lost sale, or staring at a mountain of bills.
But you know what? You have to keep the hugs and backpats and smiles and thanks you’s and all the rest of your fine engaging qualities out there on the table… through the worst of times as well as through the best… to make more of the worst become best. It’s contagious. It’s a choice. It’s your choice!
Good Night and God Bless You! halalpiar
