How Much Choice Do We Have?

As I stood admiring the beautiful, home-made, gluten-free, chocolate cake sitting on the table in the staff kitchen (made by my co-author, I might add), that certainly was the question floating through my mind:  how much choice do I have in this situation? It seemed like my eyes, my taste buds, my thoughts, my desires, and most of my physical systems were urging me toward the cake. “After all,” I thought, “It is gluten-free, and it is the generous gift of a good friend. Surely, it is a blessing to me and my body all the way around.” And yet there was also a thought that, as tasty as it would be, the cake would add calories that I would either have to wear off or store.

I find that one thing that helps me at such choice-point cross roads like these that seem to come up on a daily basis is to simply remove myself from the situation to get a little more perspective, and to remind myself that I am at choice. Over time in the workplace, I have learned to not go with my first impulse to respond immediately to a challenging or feisty e-mail, put it aside for a bit, and come back to it later with cooler eyes, a wider mind, and a kinder, more intelligent writing style.

The other thing that helps me is to notice and remind myself how many times a day I do have a choice – often in terms of what I am doing, usually in how I am feeling, and always in what I am thinking. Philosopher Ernest Holmes said, “What thought has produced, thought can change.” What a stunning and liberating idea! That we can actually choose our thoughts, and therefore the effect they have on us.

Of course it might not be so easy at first. I have spent most of my life feeling like a victim of my own thinking – that my thoughts just were, as though they happened to me. What a relief it was to start to notice them, drop the ones I didn’t want, and encourage the ones I did want.  This is where an exercise like the one in Week 1 of Seeing Good at Work is helpful. Taking a few moments each day to note our positive or negative response to things in our environment begins to give us the awareness that leads to more choice and control in our thoughts and emotions.

Did I have a piece of cake? You betcha! Did I enjoy it? Very much! Did I go back to the kitchen from my office later in the afternoon for another piece? No. Do I have any regrets? None.        

Joyce Duffala

What's In A Title? Seeing Good or Seeing God?

I was surfing the web today looking for the phrase "Spirituality in the workplace" and was delighted with how many blogs and articles I came across.  I remembered, while surfing, how it amused me when I was being introduced at speaking engagements and my presenter would say "..co-author with Dr. Joyce Duffala of Seeing God At Work." 

The actual title of the book is Seeing Good At Work, specifically so that it would be more accessible to people for whom God is difficult to integrate in the workplace.  I remember watching some folk's eyes glaze over and I would tell myself, "Oh well, just lost another reader."

I have learned to get over that and just enjoy the experience and trust that those for whom the book can offer the most will find their way to it.  Call it good, call it God, or don't call it anything at all - the exercises still do the same thing for me, increase my awareness of what is harmonious, powerful and possible in the workplace.

I was reminded of this just the other day when a colleague told me what week's exercise he was on and how it had been 'working him.'  Wanting to share what the exercises are like, I created a page on our Seeing Good At Work Blog with a sample exercise, recommended reading lists, testimonials and you name it.  And while I was doing that, I realized, it would have been just fine to call the book Seeing God At Work, I wouldn't have minded at all.

How To Use Seeing Good At Work - Daily Writing Assignment

Each chapter of Seeing Good At Work contains an application exercise. The purpose of this exercise is to move the concepts of the chapter off the page and into your daily life. The application exercise usually involves a daily writing assignment or two. Use a notebook to record any observations, discoveries, questions, thoughts, or feelings you have about the week’s topic each day. When you reach the beginning of the next week, wherever you are on your notebook page, turn it and begin on a fresh, clean page and write the new week number at the top.

At the end of each chapter, you will find a short “Remind Yourself” statement that you can memorize and repeat to yourself throughout the week. These affirmative statements, along with your daily writings, will bring the lessons of Seeing Good At Work more powerfully into your life.

You might also consider going through the material in this book with a friend or small study group. In this way, you can share insights and growth, and support each other in seeing good at work.

Joyce Duffala
Edward Viljoen