This week, America will celebrate it’s independence as a country. People will get together with friends to have cook outs and parties. They will go to fireworks shows put on by the cities where they live and even shoot off fireworks at home.
We are so proud of our independence and should be. There were many lives lost during the wars and over the years by our military personnel to keep the freedoms that came with that independence. We need to be thankful for all that others have given up for us. This made me start thinking about our dependence.
We depend on other people every day. It may be a family member that prepares our meals and does our laundry. Think about the service that you get when you go to the store to shop. I take my car into the shop when it breaks down so someone with a lot more skill than I have can get it running properly again. I am dependent on someone that knows how to do it because this is not a skill that I have. We all have different skills and use those skills to benefit others as well as ourselves.
I think about my team at work. I depend on them all of the time. How often do we celebrate them? I do not expect that you will go out and buy some fireworks to celebrate them, but you can do little things that make an impact. It maybe a box of bagels and cream cheese brought in for breakfast and a thank you to go with it. How about a thank you card with a heart felt message in it to the one person that made the biggest difference for your team that week. Try just telling someone how much you appreciate them and what they do. That goes a long way.
This does not just have to be at work. What other relationships go unappreciated? What about your spouse or family members? Are there members of your church that do things behind the scenes, or maybe in plain view, day in and day out that do not get recognition? We tend to take things for granted and do not recognize them for the blessings they are in our lives. I know I have to be more aware of what I take for granted. I do audits and evaluations of operations at work and am looking for the areas of improvement. I tend to slip into the routine of skipping over the things people are doing well. I do not celebrate the accomplishments like I should.
We tend to think about employee recognition as being an all or nothing type of thing. If we cannot do a lot, we tend to do nothing. That is a shame. Our staff and co-workers deserve better recognition. So as you finish up celebrating this weekend and head back into work on Tuesday, figure out how you are going to celebrate your dependence. Don’t just limit this thinking to work. Take the same approach in all aspects of your life and celebrate what others are doing all around you.
