Joy Is Contagious

My favorite music genre is smooth jazz, and one of my favorite jazz musicians is Dave Koz. He is hard not to like, as it so much fun to watch him play saxophone. It's easy to get caught up in the whirlwind atmosphere of his performances. Everyone who plays music with Dave seems to enjoy the experience, and from the looks of things, Dave sees to it that they feel this way. He is as admired and respected for his work ethic as he is for his talent.

I don't know Dave Koz personally, but from what I can see it's understandable why anyone would want to work with him, or watch him perform. His style of play seems to be inspired, and he never seems to tire of performing. He is as energetic as he is enthusiastic, and he seems to feed off the energy of the audience, which in turn seems to feed off of his energy onstage. With his magnetic personality to match, Dave Koz has the spirit and skill that makes a winning combination.

From Dave I have learned a valuable lesson which I'd like to share with you, a lesson that can help you in all your relationships, whether personal or professional. I can state it simply as this:

Be a fun person to be around.

Now when I say that I don't mean you have to be silly or goofy. You don't have to, as the old folks said back in the day, "act a'fool," but it does help you relate to others if you are an enthusiastic person, or at the very least an optimistic one. Be the type of person that other people look forward to spending time with. It doesn't always have to be a serious business situation. There are important issues to be tackled each day, to be sure, but they don't have to be addressed on a 24-7 basis. There is time to infuse some joy in your life; things don't always have to be perfect for you to be happy. The situation you face doesn't determine whether or not you will be joyful, you do:

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

If you really want to attract people to you, if you want someone to be interested in what you're doing, take a page from the lesson book of Dave Koz: whatever you do in life, do it enthusiastically, do it intensely, do it heartily, with a sense of purpose, with a sense of adventure, with a sense of joy. For joy is contagious, joy is strength, joy is power, joy is the flame that draws the moth, the honey that attracts the bees.

So determine to bring more joy to what you do, whatever it is that you do. And who knows but one day in the near future when people speak of someone they know who is exciting, inspiring, fun to be around...

...something's telling me it might be you:

That's all for now, gotta run. Until we meet again, remember:

Keep it simple...See ya!