Cheerful Gets The Call
Author: Byron Pulsifer, © 2012
I worked for many years in areas that demanded a rather stern demeanor for the majority of the workday. My job also demanded that cheerfulness applied only to other staff members but certainly when not out in the field.
There Is A Price To Pay
It is not natural when one is limited or seems to be limited to being cheerful because that is not there preferred way of working or relating. It means that one has to be phony or behave like an actor playing a role. The difference is that an actor eventually finishes the film shoot and returns to their natural self whereas when you maintain a role for many years, you seem to lose a bit of your inner happiness.
I managed to change my working environment after seven years and, to me, it was good timing and the best thing I could have done. The transition to my new role was at first a little challenging because old habits die-hard even when they are not needed. I found that it took me about a good year before I could open up the way I felt comfortable with and I am sure that was a relief as well to my colleagues.
To be cheerful to me is much, much easier than having to play a part that is uncomfortable to the point where you actually start to lose your sense of humor. These jobs or roles, to me, cost and take a huge piece of humanness away from those required to play in these roles.
The Good News
One can recover a good sense of humor but you must first be able to recognize that you have chosen to compromise it.
The Point Is
To be cheerful, you must take the cheerfulness as a very necessary part of who you are, or, at least, who you want to be.Cheerfulness promotes laughter and laughter promotes good health.
Your sense and demonstration of cheerfulness will bring you a lot more friends, will make you much more welcome to your friends and family, and will place you among the most often invited guests to parties. Everyone likes a person with a sense of humor and a person who isn’t afraid to laugh at themselves.
So, throw away the scorn and scowls every chance you get. If you cannot always be cheerful because of the type of job you have, make sure you use your cheerfulness outside of the job each and every day – do not ever lose it!
The Hard Part
For many people they are different inside than outside. I am talking about how you behave when out for full view. There is a sense from some people that to show they have very human qualities like laughter, teasing, funny or silly will demean them and will cost them in terms of people viewing them less than they are worth. This especially true of managers, supervisors and executives who often feel that they must not show their real true selves to anyone who is in a subordinate position.
What I say to these type of people is that they have a view that is entirely incorrect. In my view as demonstrated through my own learning and development is that the more human you are, the more people will respect you for being real, and for being approachable.
Inspirational Quotes for Reflection:
“You may not smile because you are cheerful; but if you will force yourself to smile you’ll . . .be cheerful because you smile.” Kenneth Goode
“Optimism: A cheerful frame of mind that enables a tea kettle to sing though in hot water up to its nose.” Author Unknown
“If you are an enthusiastic and optimistic person, who has charisma and a get up and make things happen kind of attitude, things may fall into place much quicker.”Jack Warren
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