Recently someone challenged me to find "gratitude" in what you are least grateful for at the moment. Write five things down about that thing, where people can see them, and make sure to reflect upon that gratitude. I can put the list on the refrigerator, on my mirror - or on this blog.
So - today I was complaining about working on Easter Sunday. Then multiple problems popped up at work, and I found myself complaining more.
A-ha! Something for my "gratitude" list.
Let me say first, I am very grateful for my job. I love what I do, and I'm blessed to be able to have this job, this career. And let me also quiet the nay-sayers right now. No, I'm not brown-nosing to my bosses. I'm sure there will be "gratitude" lists that pop up in the future reminding myself how lucky I am to have three crazy, whacky, gorgeous and fun little girls.
So here they are. Five reasons I'm grateful for my job. I could ramble off a gazillion, but today these popped out at me.
#1 Underground parking. This is awesome both summer and winter. And also fantastic when some nights I leave work close to midnight. I walk by a security guard, into a well-lit parking garage and make it safely to my car. Thank-you underground parking.
#2 Inspirational thoughts in the elevators. KSL shares that parking garage with the LDS Business College. Everyday, after parking in that underground garage, I take an elevator up to the newsroom. Quotes like this one, and others, take my mind away from the things of this world for that 15 second elevator ride. The quotes change frequently, sometimes every day. So, thank-you, inspirational quotes and to the person who takes the time to put them there.
#3 Free Soda! Ok, so I know how bad this one is for me. But when darkness enveloped my life last summer the caffeine was the only thing that kept me going. I was new at KSL, I was sick, and CocaCola helped. But it's not just the free soda. It's the awesome ice, too. You know, the crunchy, balls of ice that make beverages of any kind taste better (somehow.) And it get's better. The Triad Center, home of Deseret Mutual (the bigger picture of KSL) has these soda fountains on three different floors of the eight-story building - all offering different choices. Oh, thank-you free soda.
#4 Great co-workers. This is just a small taste. A very small taste. It is, after-all, Easter Sunday. On a typical day you would find 75+ journalists all working towards the same cause. Courtney, Mark, Keith and Sandra were here with me this Easter Sunday. I can say with honesty that I enjoy working with everyone in this newsroom. And there is something different about the culture in this newsroom compared to other places I have worked. Maybe it's the Mormon thing, but I'm not so sure because a lot of the people here aren't LDS. A few years back USA Today did a study on "Swearing in the Newsroom." The results were that swearing was cathartic, and good to do. I'm not saying a few foul words don't slip out every-once-in-a-while here, but for the most part it is a positive and uplifting place to work. In fact, I'm convinced it's not the "Mormon" thing. It's that we are all adults. So, thank-you great co-workers (in this picture) and the many others who surround me every week.
#5 Alex Cabrerro. Now typically I don't like singling people out, but if you don't know Alex Cabrerro you are lacking a great friend. He's the equivalent of the "class clown" in the newsroom, and I mean that in the best way. Don't leave your computer un-locked if you walk away from it - even for just a few minutes. You'll come back to a screen-saver photo of you being photo-shopped into a loving embrace with Warren Jeffs. He always has a smile on his face. If we're short photographers he will gladly grab a camera and shoot his own story. And I'm probably the biggest fan of his story-telling. So, thank-you Alex Cabrerro for always being my friend, taking time to talk to me, getting to know me, and being willing to have fun in a place where stress levels are often running high. You are one-in-a-million.
