I’d be lying if I were to say that these first two weeks (13 days, to be exact) have been without stress and frustration. Caleb had begun to sleep for longer stretches during the night (one night he had several 3 1/2 hour stints) but quickly moved to much shorter durations filled with lots of grunting and periodic cries. All due to gas. Ahhhh gas. It’s amazing that the foods that my wife cherishes the most are at the top of the list of gas-producing substances that she must avoid in order to prevent discomfort for Caleb. Ironically, the foods are on the “healthy” list: Broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, etc. Somehow cheese, cookies (sans chocolate) and bread are better for the wee baby…

Which brings me to Joy. Last night was a mix of 15-60 minute stints of restless sleep for my wife and I as our son was really battling the air bubbles in his system. As an isolated incident, such a sleepless night might not usually raise our frustration levels. However, night 13 of sleepless nights has such a capacity. So where’s the joy? At some point last night, as I was massaging our son’s tummy and legs, accompanied by his extremely cute and humorous grunts, my wife commented to me that she hadn’t ever seen me so happy. Quite a comment at 3am, no? And then it hit me: I am extremely happy and joyful… My son is the greatest gift I have ever received and brings an unimaginable amount of joy and happiness into my life. More than enough, it seems, to elicit laughter and humor at 3am, night after night.

I giggle and laugh when he grunts, when we have to change his diaper for the third time in 5 minutes (we thought we had the process perfected—he’s a sneaky one, he is), when he stretches and sighs, when he’s sleeping, when he wakes up, when he sneezes, when he coughs… pretty much anytime I’m around him.

And why would I want anything else?

And now I have to relate this revelation to business… If I had a choice between spending my time doing something that brought me joy and happiness, or slaving away at some cush job that had security, great pay, but brought me little to no happiness, why wouldn’t I choose the former? What if it meant giving up a great salary and benefits package? Prestige? I’d still unfulfilling job.

I’m sure I’ll be blasted with 1000’s of comments about how you can’t always choose the path of greater happiness as it simply isn’t practical. I would have to strongly disagree. I’d say it’s pretty impractical to force yourself to stay in a situation that you don’t enjoy, that doesn’t make you feel good, and that doesn’t bring you any joy or happiness. I’m certainly not saying that everyone should quit their jobs and become forest rangers and artists. Nor am I saying that even if everyone pursued Joy with fierce determination that they’ll eventually find it. But I am saying that they should try…

Challenge yourself to pursue joy and happiness and you just might find it. Sure, the road may be difficult and filled with a lot of sleepless nights and stinky diapers, but I guarantee you’ll be much happier.

TAGS: Joy | Father | Son | Parenting | Career | Life

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 21st, 2005 at 3:18 pm and is filed under Corporate Social Responsibility, On Being A Father.... You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.