365 Give

I watch TED(x) videos for fun. I admit I do not make it to the end of many of these videos; the subject may be too deep, a distraction may come into play or the speaker may fail to hold my attention. However, there exists a certain joy in wondering what nugget of knowledge one may discover. One such video that I watched in full over the weekend was that of Jacqueline Way on ‘How to be Happy Every Day’. After all, who wouldn’t want that?

I learnt that the answer to finding happiness lay in one simple act – giving. So easy that a 3 year old could do it. Jacqueline’s delivery is flawless and her story inspires you to join the movement in changing the world 1 give, 1 day at a time. Apparently, the human body is hard-wired for giving. I found myself agreeing whole-heartedly. I recalled instances where giving felt great but one give a day for 365 days leading to 365 days of happiness felt like a miracle. Naturally, the experimenter in me decided to try it. So I signed up. The 365 give website gives you plenty of ideas from as easy as saying a nice word, feeding a stray or playing the free rice game.

After 3 days of signing up, I learnt an even more important lesson. This seemingly simple way of finding happiness isn’t very simple. I was so caught up with work and the regular rhythm of life that I forgot about the challenge I’d taken on. I realized I needed to be intentional about giving until it becomes a habit. So, I’m restarting again and this is my give for today – telling you about it.

Do you know what the best part of our job is? We can actually make this a thing! We are constantly looking for ways to have happy employees at work. Surprisingly, the answer is simple. It is as easy as encouraging them to give every day and enabling them to do so. No, it doesn’t have to be a complicated CSR strategy but a much easier mechanism. Think about it. And irrespective of whether you encourage others to do it or not, give it a shot yourself. It does not have to be 365 days either, just 20 days to begin with.

What will you give today?