BEING THANKFUL

Back to work then. I've been having a conversation with myself.

"So, what is it I do?"

"Check emails, I think."

"Right. What's my password?"

"No idea."

"I'll guess it."

"Fair enough."

"So, emails. Emails, emails, e...mails..."

"Any good'ns?"

"Just stuff that doesn't matter. Apparently there was a flood in the kitchen. I've been wished a Merry Christmas by some people (nice) and a whole train of things that have either already been fixed or are not relevant."

"Brilliant. Tea?"

"Capital idea."

One of my objectives this year is to be more thankful for things, particularly at work. I know that's not a smart objective - it's hardly measurable or specific, but it is a goal.

What tends to happen is that I end up swinging between being randomly thankful for silly things, or being sarcastic about it. For example, I'm currently very thankful that the atoms in my chair are holding themselves together and I'm simultaneously thankful that no-one has called me an idiot.

It seems unlikely that either of those things will change, so I'm going to try focusing my thankfulness towards things that lie in-between those two extremes.

Another problem with trying to be thankful is that it highlights things that other people might not have. I am thankful that I have a good job - it's near the top of the list actually, but I recognise that not everyone can say that. I have a great family and the most incredible friends in the world. Some people really long for those things and it can be painful to hear others going on about them.

However, I think it's a mistake to hide the things you're thankful for in the interest of protecting someone else. The reason is that everyone's story is different - and your thank-you list is bound to be really different to mine - there's no comparison. By being reticent to tell you what I'm thankful for, I actually make things worse for you because it encourages a culture of being less thankful all-round. And you have a unique set of things to be thankful for, yourself. And I'm thankful for that.

In essence then, the idea is to cultivate the attitude of being thankful all the time, instead of perpetuating ingratitude or worse, indifference, which is frighteningly easy to slip into.

So, in an effort to make my objective a bit 'smarter', here are my top ten thank-yous for today:

1. I have a good job I can do well
2. I sit next to a window
3. I can walk home (for the moment)
4. The people I work with are friendly and helpful
5. I can listen to music while I work
6. My work gets read by people around the world
7. The CEO knows my name
8. I don't have to take my work home with me
9. I haven't got backache or RSI
10. I can go home early today

Oh, and...

11. No-one judges me for talking to myself.

Right?