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Winnie the Pooh: “Piglet: how do you spell love?”

Piglet: “Pooh: you don’t spell it, you feel it.” 

We are in the people business. And the food business, but the food doesn’t walk itself from the farm to the truck to the kitchen to the cutting board to the platter and out to the customer. And it doesn’t clean up after itself. People still do!

Each day, we influence how people feel through our attitudes and our actions. “Hospitality” is achieved when someone “feels” taken care of…and when the food we are serving “feels” taken care of. 

So, are you feeling it?

When we work in teams, like in busy kitchens, we occasionally think about how to motivate each other. Or…if that’s even possible. Can one human really motivate another? That is debatable. But think of it this way…have you felt inspired by another? Have you watched someone perform a skill or hear them describe how they got from point A to point B in their life, and felt encouraged that maybe you can accomplish ____, too? (whatever that ____ may be…run a marathon, learn a second language, plant a garden, seek a promotion).

According to the experts, we all have “native”, intrinsic motivations that are formed early in our lives. DiSC assessments have a section devoted to this topic. If you search the web, there are many self-tests…like this quirky one sponsored by Oprah. Whatever your motivation style is…give yourself a chance to feed it every day and surely you will inspire others by your example.

It’s almost a new year which means in the next 48 hours we will see clips of “2015′s greatest or biggest…” – sports moments, news stories, movies, memes, etc…

And, we may find ourselves saying – or thinking…”I wish I had made time to ________”, followed by “I resolve to ______”. 
 
As you do, consider these messages: 
 
A repeat from Dr. Wayne Dyer (who passed away in 2015)

“…you can go about resolving until the cows come home, and you still have to live your life just like everyone else on this planet – ONE DAY AT A TIME…set up day-to-day goals for yourself… for example, instead of deciding you are going to give up sugar for a year, resolve to go one day without eating sugar. Anyone can do virtually anything if it is for only one day.” 

And, from part of Dorothy Hunt’s poem “Peace”:
Do you think peace requires an end to war
Or tigers eating only vegetables?
Does peace require an absence from your boss, your spouse, yourself?
Do you think peace will come some other place than here?
Some other time than now?
In some other heart than yours?
Peace is this moment without judgement.
That is all.

Peace to all – one day at a time

As we get ready for Thanksgiving and the meaning we attach to our meal…the gathering and togetherness and gratitude…we also can find ourselves marking time. Maybe we only eat a certain food on this day…or see certain people…or use certain china…or visit a certain home. Just this one day. And so from childhood to adulthood we go through variations of Thanksgiving rituals from simple to elaborate, while marking time, year to year. 

Recently, when Rie Godsey and I were visiting one of our partners (a day school in Northern Virginia), I saw a handmade poster that was titled at the top, “Traits we are working to grow in the Lower School.” It had colorful sticky notes calling out the traits and examples. Optimism. Perseverance. Flexibility. Resilience. Self-Awareness. Empathy. 

And I thought…wow…these are traits I (and grown-ups, everywhere) can work to grow, too. 

There is a lot of wisdom in what we learned and experienced as children. From traits to work on, to how Thanksgiving started.

The “first Thanksgiving” was neither a feast nor a holiday, but a simple gathering. Following the Mayflower’s arrival at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620, the Pilgrims suffered the loss of 46 of their original 102 colonists. With the help of 91 Indians, the remaining Pilgrims survived the bitter winter and yielded a bountiful harvest in 1621. In celebration, a traditional English harvest festival, lasting three days brought the Pilgrims and natives to unite in a “thanksgiving” observance. 

So enjoy the family, the football, the day off, or the china you only use once a year, while remembering what you learned about this holiday (and traits you can work to grow) so long ago…the beauty of each human life, the gift of food and the hands that grow it, and the spirit of reconciliation.