My first job was the 10th grade. I told my employer I was 16. Close enough. I signed up to serve tables 6 through 15 at the local diner in exchange for a weekly paycheck plus tips. I had little work ethic, despite the fact that my Father had modeled a 70-hour work week in his own business since I was too young to remember.

The waitressing gig proved to be the worst job I would ever have. It would be some years later before I understood that the entire fiasco was entirely my responsibility. I alone had the power to make it better. I alone had the power to make someone’s day a bit brighter–if only with a simple smile and a cup of java. I was interested in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Specifically my own. Little else mattered.

It was my first experience with blatant capitalism–or “the great exchange“. As far as equal exchange in this job however, at minimum wage, I was overpaid. I provided more problems for my employer than help. Nor did I pay for the education I received. (Dealing with Hungry People is a valuable course that, to my knowledge, is unavailable at any institution of higher learning. I learned plenty. My techniques were less than kosher. Let’s just say I failed.)

Fortunately, I have matured in my attitudes about employment. I have learned that the world does not revolve around me and my needs. Whew. But it got me to thinking. Most people feel underpaid. We have choices where a truly inequitable wage situation exists. (And they do exist. But as the saying goes, “If you do not like where you are, then change it. You are not a tree.”) But rarely do we conclude that in order to be paid more, we need to deliver more.

As much as I’d like to think I have paid my own way through life, in all reality I have always received far more than I have supplied. We all come into the world  vulnerable and needy. I will forever be in debt, whether to parents or educators or employers and mostly to God Himself. At every point where I have been needy and insufficient, He has always sent someone to supply my lack. (Moms were His best idea!) When we realize we have always received more than we have given back, it is humbling. Gratitude results.   

Entrepreneurs also come into the world as needy creatures. We need more everything–more sales, more confidence, more equipment, and more skills to implement our dreams. We need courage most of all to face things beyond our control. Mentors step in to nurture and to coach. We work hard, and we often feel underpaid for the services rendered. Yet, we are paid according to the value we deliver. The entire situation is entirely our responsibility.

Dr. Henry Cloud asserts that a mere 10% of our happiness is due to circumstances. Another 50% comes from our personal constitution. And the astounding part–a full 40% of our own happiness is completely within our control. Imagine that! Most of us know that if any variable in our business could be improved by 40%, we would be happy campers. 

It is easy to demand more from life than we demand from ourselves. If we focus on the negative, we may miss the resources we may have at our disposal. Instead of blaming our circumstances, gratitude helps us to discover abundance. Abundance is not found in all things perfect. Abundance is found in gratitude–in working with what you have and enjoying what you already possess.

Gratitude is not just some naive positive-thinking exercise to save for Sunday morning reflection. There is a rare quality of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to be discovered in the very word. Here at etc! graphics, we would deem it essential to true success.

Join us all of November as we discuss Gratitude as a valid and necessary strategy to unlock the door to abundance to your business.

“All the days of the afflicted are bad, but one with a grateful heart has a continual feast.” Proverbs 15:15

Stay tuned for Part II of Unlocking Abundance, next week!  

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Why do we at etc!graphics inc, a graphic design company, care about your business strategies?  Because no matter how beautiful we make your visuals, your graphics will never make more sense than the clarity of your own vision. The clearer your target, the more lucid your marketing will be, and the better connection you will create with your visual graphics. We want to help you become the best you can be. Join us all this month as we share ways to help your small business sustain and grow in a crowded marketplace. Etc!Graphics is devoted to helping you, the small business owner, think like a marketer.