day 1359: What Goes Around Comes Around

"The generous prosper and are satisfied, those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed."

When I was a kid I was fascinated by boomerangs. When I was finally able to buy one I learned how hard it is to throw one and to have the courage it takes to throw it so it comes back to you to be caught. Such is how we work. Work is full of moments that we do things for one way results and we do many things that if they were to come back to us we would be sorry. We have no fear to throw out something to someone else and to throw it hard and fast but if we thought it was going to come back to us, we would likely do as I would do with the boomerang; fall the ground and cover my head. In our work we expect that if we produce a result that favors us that an equal reaction will come back to us and we will get rewarded commensurately with the result. When that doesn't happen we are frustrated and become upset with our bosses and management and we decide that we are going to pick up our boomerang and go someplace else. The problem with this is that this is a pattern that once into will continue over and over until it becomes a way of thinking and takes over our attitude.

The Bible tells us clearly to not be that way. Everything we are taught is to not be one way in the way we live and work but to use the boomerang approach so that what goes around comes around is welcomed and received gladly. Proverbs 11:25 says to us, "The generous prosper and are satisfied, those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed." What is being said to us is that if we want to prosper, be satisfied and be refreshed, we have to throw out the same and like the boomerang the harder we throw it out there the better it will come back to us and land right at our feet. So pick up the right boomerang today and give it a good strong toss.

Reference: Proverbs 11:25 (New Living Testament)

day 810: High Five

"Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds."

In the business world when we have a success it just doesn't seem appropriate to do the up in the air hip or chest bumps. (I don't think they have a name, so let's call them "Air Bumps"). Nor do we do celebratory end-zone dances. About the best we get is a high five, a hug, a slap on the back, or maybe a fist bump. But, we want to, and we need to have a way to celebrate our successes and let the excitement out. Even just a little bit of encouragement can go a long way. I was running on Saturday and about 7 miles into my 9.5 mile run I ran by a gentleman at least 25 years my senior. As I was approaching him he held out his hand to give me a high five as I passed him. I responded with a gentle tap and a "Thank you". He turned it around and said, "Go get 'em". I was encouraged and I found a burst of energy from that small gesture. We all need it and in business we need it often. Consider when the last time was you gave a high five to someone on the team?

In Hebrews we are challenged to encourage our brothers and sisters in the Lord to bring forward "outbursts of love and good deeds". This verse is so good because it reminds us how hard it is to stay in the zone of encouragement and focus on love and our good deeds. We need others around us who can keep us propped up and recognizing the things that we are doing and vice-verse. We can also encourage those around us as we see them doing those things that are upright in the Lord. Let's today work on where our high-fives can be best put to use and see if we can't make a difference in how we encourage others. I suspect that the better we get at this the more we might see those high fives coming back our way too.

Reference: Hebrews 10:24 (New Living Testament)