21 Day Practice of Peace – Day 9 – Bring Joy to The World
Michelle LaBrosse, PMP
Twenty three years ago we crafted something for the fridge about our family values. The family at the time being just me, my husband and our new baby. I don’t recall much of what we wrote for the fridge at the time to contemplate and display to us on a daily basis. The one value I do recall was that being happy was an important contribution to our family and it was each of our responsibilities to bring happiness into our home.
I remember that one because it’s how I’ve lived everyday since we crafted those values. Ten years after we wrote these, I was working as a research scientist for a large multi-national company. Since we were in the “research” division, I decided to do “research.” Everyone I ran into, I greeted with a very friendly smile and a big hello. Over time, people started responding to me the same way, many even initiating the friendly greetings. The environment felt very welcoming, friendly and joyful. Several months after I started my experiment, a new scientist moved into the office next to mine. We were chatting after work hours a couple weeks after he started and he asked, “How come you are the only happy person in here?” This observation significantly contrasted my experience with the Research Center as a place filled with happy people.
My experiment taught me how much we each influence the environments we frequent on a day to day basis. If I want to live in a joyful, peaceful and happy world – It is as easy as showing up that way in every encounter.
Be the rainbow wherever you go.
