Try a Little Gratitude (or Love Thy Job)

I had the chance to talk about gratitude and happiness this week in the support group I run for chronic pain patients. We were planning out some topic ideas for future sessions and I shared my goal for 2009 was "gratitude." It reminded me that gratitude is something I need to practice regularly in the hopes of making it a habit. I've blogged before about the relationship between gratitude and happiness. Let the gratitude begin...

With so many people losing their jobs of late, I have been trying to appreciate the fact that I even have a job. In fact, I am grateful for so many aspects of my work. The following represent, in no particular order, the top ten reasons I love my job:

1. I get to help people, most of which are actually motivated to put in effort, find ways to live better and feel better.
2. I make good money, have great benefits, including plenty of paid time off to enjoy life outside of work.
3. I get paid to do things that are also good for me, like practice and model deep relaxation or meditation techniques.
4. I get to work in a huge hospital close to many resources, and this has even come in handy for my own medical conditions. Come on, who can say they broke an ankle or passed a kidney stone without missing any work!
5. It may be small but I have my own office even though most people in my department have to share space while we await new office space.
6. I get to go to work and every day there are colleagues and friends who are pleasant, friendly, and helpful.
7. I get to work independently, making my own decisions on scheduling, treatment planning, program development.
8. Did I mention the benefits? Over a month of paid leave each year. And being unionized, raises and bonuses annually!
9. If I do not go in to work, people genuinely miss my presence!
10. We only have one staff meeting a month.

Well, these are a few of the things about my job for which I am thankful. My goal is to appreciate my blessings and having a good rewarding job is certainly a major blessing I don't usually appreciate as much as I would like!