Day 18: The JOY of being noticed

"The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things." – Henry Ward Beecher

Today my act of JOY once again involved Tim, the jovial young man who sits at the desk as I check in for my workout at the JCC.

Tim is intriguing to me; he is friendly, a good conversationalist, and has a winning smile. He has a memory for names which I have never seen in anyone before. And I always wonder, “Why aren’t you doing more with your life?” That is not to say that what he does, greeting people and pressing the button to let them in, is not important. And he really does give me great JOY when he calls me by name and genuinely seems happy to see me.  Then there is the Kindle, which he is always reading while sitting at the desk. I ask him, “What are you reading?” he invariably smiles (somewhat sheepishly), and says, “Oh, just another self-help book”. And I wonder why he thinks he needs help. Where or what he is planning to do with his life? But I refrain from asking such big questions of someone who hands me a towel and says, “Have a good workout!”

Today, I was surprised to see a red spiral notebook in front of him, replacing his usual Kindle. I asked him, “So, today you are writing? Maybe you’re putting all those good ideas you are learning into a book of your own.” I cannot tell you how much JOY I saw on his face. Like someone had actually noticed and actually cared about what he was doing at this desk, day in and day out. Or maybe he was full of JOY at the thought he could write a book of his own?

In any case, it was the small act of noticing Tim and telling him that I noticed him and what he was doing that gave real JOY.