Every time I go to the dentist, I spend all my waiting room time gazing at the office aquarium.
The quiet hum and movement of sea creatures calms me instantly.
On a recent visit, however, when I arrived at the dentist’s waiting room there was no soothing, motorized hum, instead, I found someone working on the aquarium. This man was lovingly scrubbing at some of the unwanted algae, and scooping up various bits of God knows what from crevices in the coral.
I asked him, “Is that fun? It looks incredibly meditative.”
He lit up, and said, “It is so meditative.”
But he added,
“There are too many aquariums for me to take care of at this point,” he told me, “What I’m trying to do is carve out time to do what I really love.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Designing the tank environments. I love working with the coral and the fish and gravel to create the perfect balance … the perfect little world in the water. At home, I’m working on a masterpiece. It just brings me so much joy.”
The conversation was so nourishing. I wondered what it would be like if we started talking about the things we do that bring us joy, instead of talking about how burned out we all feel. I find myself constantly talking about how tired I am, and talking about it never makes me feel less tired. In fact, it mostly just intensifies how tired I feel.
Here’s what I know for sure … every conversation leaves an energetic imprint. We have the potential to spin an energy vortex of delight and joy, or we can spin an energy vortex of anxiety and exhaustion. The choice is ours.*
Your thought experiment this week is this:
The next time you find yourself talking about how tired, busy, and overwhelmed you are, experiment with talking about one random, seemingly small thing you did recently that brought you some joy.
Notice how it changes the tone of the conversation. Listen carefully to those who tell you about their small joy-filled moments.
Let’s spin a vortex of joy this week.
Are you in?
Shine on,
B
*I’m not saying we should bury our sadness and overwhelm. But I am saying we should create opportunities to shift our focus toward joy as often as we can manage it.
