Don’t Let Others Steal Your Joy!

January 25, 2018

It’s amazing how we can let situations and other people ruin our day. When someone says something that we don’t like or that hurt our feelings, it immediately changes our attitude for the day or sometimes even the week!

While I was teaching at New York University, one of my students came up to me during a break and told me about an encounter she had with one of her coworkers. She happened to work at a big New York City law firm, and part of her responsibilities included gathering information about outstanding projects to be submitted to the industry association in the hopes of being recognized by industry peers.

When she requested information from this person, they told her that the request was stupid, and she was not going to participate in this “dumb” request. In other words, “Bye, Felicia!”
“Is this important to the partners of the firm,” I asked.
“Absolutely,” she replied.
“So why are you letting this one person upset you?” I responded. “Just put it in writing and move on.”

The sad part was that this incident negatively impacted her overall mood all day long. We must learn how not to take things so personally. In the wise words of singer Taylor Swift—Shake it Off!

Which brings me to another point—we will always find people who want to steal our joy. Often, they are the ones that are closest to us. They are generally unhappy people and tend to be critical about everything. They are the ones that will notice that the picture on the wall is crooked in an otherwise perfect room. These people will suck the life out of you if you let them. I once had an employee who had the worst attitude and victim mentality I had ever encountered. She often terrorized and criticized her colleagues. It got to the point that her colleagues were walking around on egg shells based on this person’s mood. No one should have to put up with people and their negative attitudes—that goes for bosses, peers, and subordinates.

The reality is that people like to be around positive, supportive, energetic people. So remember, if someone tries to steal your joy, just shake it off. Joy is doing what you love, no matter what others think.

“Don’t allow anyone to steal your joy.”   Paulo Coelho