Wednesday Wisdom: Joyful Business Inspiration

Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Small Businesses

There is a wonderful quote by a Jesuit priest that says, “It’s not joy that makes us grateful, it’s gratitude that makes us joyful.” If this statement is true, then you should be reading this Wednesday Wisdom with a joyful spirit, having spent the last weekend being thankful for friends, family, food, and hopefully holiday shopping revenue from customers. It makes sense the end of our country’s holiday of gratitude leads right into the season of commercial and religious joy.

What I loved most about working in a Jesuit institution for seven years in Syracuse, and then heard sitting in an auditorium with accepted students at Boston College with my oldest son, was their mission in teaching students to reflect deeply on who they are and how they want to live their lives, and then promote engagement with the complex problems of today’s world to make a lasting difference in their careers.

As my eyes welled with tears, understanding this mission as part of my own life, I loved the fact my son would be taught to look at the world not just through a commercial, money-making lens when he graduated, but through compassionate awareness of where his best skills could be used to make life better for others. He decided to combine his passion for sports and medicine to work in an all-woman’s orthopedic practice at the best hospital in New York City as a Surgical Physician’s Assistant.

This thought rings in my ears and on my fingertips today as I ask you to contemplate what small or large positive impacts you can make this joyful season for your clients, staff, and community where your business resides? Does your company have a corporate giving policy? Do you consider your employee’s needs as limited vacation days arrive at year’s end? Is it possible to give holiday bonuses to employees or gifts to favorite customers?

Sometimes it isn’t about what we sell, how much we sell or who we sell to, it is about the overall contributions we make in our lives to others. If we are thankful being women entrepreneurs and filled with joy from that gratitude, what percentage of what we do or make can or should be given away to help others?

You don’t have to watch the Christmas Carol or attend a Jesuit college to understand a joyful heart is owned by a giving person who cares deeply for those around them. How we distribute our joy this month of December will set our gratitude levels. Why not make it as joyful as you can with what you have?