If your parent
s are stilted and unable to hug you with a genuine squeeze and vibration of love, then your journey to love, share love, open your heart to love, say “I love you” with meaning and be secure with that amazing emotion will be unsettled.
Happiness
All around us, there are studies on happiness. Have you read my series here each Friday that began Jan. 11, 2013, called The Happy Friday Series? It consists of your stories about happiness; there are no rules, just an interpretation, recollection, and often therapeutic sharing of life’s journey. Please read a few; here is the list from the first half of the year.
Please also consider writing for the series, as my goal is to get through year end without needing to fill a gap in guest writers.
Happiness research hit academia a few years ago; I still have the Harvard Business Review with happiness on the cover. Another Fortune company is going to find ways to make employees happier as it leads to greater productivity and morale.
Love on the other hand? It’s a sensitive emotion. Does it belong in the workplace? Should you use it to describe your services and products? Will anyone believe you if you do?
Kaarina Dillabough addressed respect as a topic for her post this week. She raises solid points about the lack of respect just about everywhere and mostly the lack of respect in the home. The children shooting adults out of boredom? No respect for life or happiness. I assume also there’s no love in the home or the foundation of the big three – happiness, love and respect.
That’s what the gangs are doing; encompassing and embracing errant children off the street and providing some semblance of security. At the same time the gangsta masters are delivering a foundation of structure and negative reinforcement; however, the flipside at home could be much worse.
Every Creature Thrives On Love
Every single living creature thrives on love. Perhaps it’s attention and love follows. Well, maybe snails don’t thrive on love; I’m not sure! Infants born with drug dependency react to cuddling and a warm embrace. When left alone, they suffer and cry uncontrollably. Heck, infants without chemical dependency thrive with warm and genuine hugs.
Think about someone ill or someone alone in a retirement center? What’s the best way to make them feel loved and secure and together? Hold their hand and squeeze. Feel the love from your heart travel to your hand and theirs. Watch it vibrate with healing energy to their heart and eyes.
Mark Schaefer wrote a post this week on a similar topic. He shared how his rigorous attention to analytics nearly drove his blog to disaster. His new approach is to be more relaxed with his writings and let his heart guide his content. What’s happened? His community found him back with more engagement than before.
So, I ask you…why are you doing what you’re doing today? If you’re unhappy with the results or you feel compelled to stay the course for the wrong reasons, then your heart is hurting. You do not love what you do in business. Love cannot pay the bills, I get it; however, love, passion and compassion are the very foundation of how you show up to others.
Is there a place for love in business?
Can you show it more so people can feel that you’re genuine?
Love comes in many sizes! Because we’re interacting more with perfect social strangers, we can show the love in a variety of simple ways:
- Your gesture to someone on Twitter in the morning can be as simple as “Hey, how’s it going? I miss you @3HatsComm!”
- You can honor love by thanking someone for a retweet or pingback.
- You can pay attention by reading and sharing content.
- Comments — always comments (and people have less ability to visit as often as we did). So, coming by to comment or take a survey shows care for your peers.
I’ve often spoken of genuine authority. What that means is subject to your interpretation. It’s not the purchase of Twitter followers; it’s not the grandiose presentation of your wins and successes at the expense of others; nor is it your false massaging of self to build up who you’re really not.
What if, as Betsy Cross always writes, you bared your soul on a scale beyond your comprehension? What if you were able to share one thing so painful right here on this blog and then you began to heal by revealing your inner pain?
The love and support you’d receive would be therapeutic, and you can be assured that I love you until you disrespect me back.
And, so, I ask again…is there a place for love in business?
Indeed.
Only if you truly love yourself first.
