Poverty, the enemy of Joy

Diwali is the festival of lights, where diyas are lit to symbolize the victory of light over darkness. Yule uses a candle on Winter Solstice to celebrate the triumph of light over darkness following the year's day of the least daylight. Kwanzaa's lighting of the kinara celebrates seven principles, such as unity. Hanukkah, the eight day festival of lights in Judaism, has each of its nine candles on the menorah lit from the center candle, the shamash. And in Christianity, an advent wreath contains 4 candles surrounding the Christ candle in the middle, with each one lit progressively on Sundays preceding Christmas day. Now in week 3, the pink candle was lit, which represents joy.

I find the connectivity between world religions and the ceremonies and rituals used to remind followers of their original stories to be a beautiful thread connecting diverse beliefs, and at no time of the year is it more prevalent than this one. Across all seven continents, humanity seemingly recognizes the need for light to overcome darkness. And just like we have to choose to light a candle, I believe we also have to intentionally choose joy.

The APA's scientific definition of joy is helpful here: n. a feeling of extreme gladness, delight, or exultation of the spirit arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction.

And that's why joy is different from happiness, an emotional reaction. Joy is much more than that and deeper than a reaction to one's present circumstances or stimuli. It's a deep and powerful choice, a frame through which we look and listen and a filter for our actions and statements. Perhaps it can wax and wane, but if so the timeframe is likely longer than a day or a week; certainly more than an hour. Joy is a choice, just like a lit candle -- but it certainly has an enemy. As I have studied myself, studied others, and sought to be one who chooses joy I have had to consider its enemy, which I believe to be poverty.

Poverty's Many Faces

While it's easy to immediately think of wealth, there are other ways that poverty has shown up in the lives of others, and indeed in my own life and the life of organizations that I lead and support. With an aim to help others choose joy, especially this season, I'll spotlight a few that have shown up.

Poverty of Freedom

I cannot imagine what life would be like if I had to do what others said, believe what others tell me to believe, earn what others allow me to earn. Blazing my own path and going where I want to go, doing what I want to do, creating and innovating, repairing and rebuilding ... All of it, all of the choices (good and bad) have made me the person I am now, have enabled me to build a family with my wife, and share my time, talent, and treasure with companies and organizations I believe in. I get to save, invest, donate and spend where I want to. I get to travel and experience new people and ideas, seeing the beauty of our country and the planet - hopefully one day even getting to explore beyond our atmosphere. I do so safely thanks to the sacrifices of generations before me, and those who protect us today. And I get to have a say in who governs my community, participating in the political process. It's why immigrants risk so much to come here, because like me they want the chance to thrive.

It's why one of the greatest threats to joy, and the world, is communism and its destruction of freedom. This is certainly a political statement, but it's much more than that. Ask yourself,

• Would entrepreneurs create and invent more if they were forced to share everything they do with the state, and give all of the benefit to the powerful inside the government?
• Would the agricultural industry put the same passion into growing plants or raising animals if they did so on property they didn't own, couldn't grow, or had no generational connection to?
• Would journalists (of which there are admittedly fewer today, than before) pursue truth and hold those in power accountable if they had to get approval of their intellectual property before posting it?
• Would children dream as much for themselves and those they love if they saw no path to bring those dreams to life?

The poverty of freedom shows up in other ways today, and has shown up in various evil ways in the past. It is very, very difficult to choose joy when you are forbidden to.

Poverty of Character

Type 1: Good Character

My first two jobs outside of the family business were at JCPenney and Walmart, both of which were created and led by founders James Cash Penney and Sam Walton, respectively. Both men had humble beginnings, and both put forth their personal values and ethics into the cultures that have largely lived on even now, decades after their passing. These sixteen years cemented a belief in me that the character of an organization's leader matters a great deal. One of my previous mentors referred to this as the 'leadership shadow,' in which all walk who follow you. The same is true for non-profits, for governments, and for civic organizations.

Type 2: Masked Character

Today's world has unbelievable connectivity, we learn of things near instantly. And when those things happen, there is often a desire to speak out on it to signal to your organization and its stakeholders how you have interpreted it, and what your belief is. What fascinates me is how the exact opposite is accomplished: people issue nothing-statements, watered down so much that the original thought isn't discernible to the reader, leaving only the imagination to know what exactly that person or organization said about that thing. But hey, you responded to that thing in case anyone asks (PS, less people were waiting for your thoughts than you may have been told).

Type 3: Bad Character

Evil exists and is in power in governments, companies, non-profits, and civic organizations. There are some things that are wrong, and there are some things that are false -- but the preceding sentence is neither of those things. It saddens me to have so many present examples of this to share with our sons, who we are raising to be different. And it scares me, as the road to selfish gain and pleasure is very wide and inviting. Finding the narrow path isn't impossible, but it isn't always easy, either. I want to avoid the wide and easy road, and I want my family, company, and organizations to do the same.

The poverty of character shows up in types 2 and 3, and the examples of type 1 are fewer and fewer -- but they are very much there. My hope is that the joy these men and women experience becomes more attractive than the fame and power the impoverished often have, and that the next generation will choose the better way.

Poverty of Creativity

Music is something that I cherish and enjoy deeply, in fact it's what I had hoped to do professionally. While I have no regrets on the path I've chosen, I do sometimes wonder if I would have had the chance to create original music, arrangements, or experiences if I had dedicated my post-secondary education to this. My grandmother wonders what would have happened if I'd continued piano lessons past grade school -- something she reminds me of occasionally (lovingly).

As a parent, few things bring me more joy than seeing our sons do something original (one of them is a rapper), discover new things about themselves (one of them is modeling), or innovate in the often mundane (one of them has been cooking since he was 4).

As a business leader, nothing brings me more joy than creating teams that win. Not just points on the board, dollars in the till, or things like that -- I mean really winning. Solving a problem that others have failed to solve, making something beautiful where chaos or nothing at all was, and finding a purpose bigger than they thought. When individuals are given the freedom to iterate, teams are created to augment gifting, and movements are aimed towards opportunities it is a really beautiful thing. And it's even more satisfying when customers see it, use it, love it, and stay.

As a human, I believe I was created by a Creator who gave me the unique ability to create. I believe the same is true for you, and is true for all people. It exists even if it hasn't been nourished, and it's that moment (big or small) that you are doing what you were created to do (creating) that ignites the deepest of satisfactions.

The poverty of creativity shows up in various places today, and like the other ones I've discussed can be ignited by oneself or by others. If in leadership, the main role is often giving up some level of control to enable others.

Poverty: Relative, Absolute, and Abject

As I enjoy my coffee in this warm café, type on my MacBook, and listen to some music that I downloaded last week ... I do so fully aware of my circumstances. I am blessed, I am lucky, and I have more than I need or deserve. And I'm grateful.

I'm also one who has experienced relative poverty, sees absolute poverty all around, and has once observed abject poverty in person. I know the social exclusion that it creates, have empathy for the impossible choices it forces some people to make, and remain haunted from all I saw in Haiti. The World Bank does a much better job articulating the state of poverty by country, including causation and potential solutions.

My career in retail has more time focused on rural communities than urban ones, and yet the most vivid examples of poverty and the need to solve it are in the larger cities I've served. But equally present in both these and suburbia are those who are struggling to avoid poverty, making really hard choices between the bills they pay, the food they buy, and how they prepare for their own future or that of their children.

Just this week, another reminder of this fact came into our Customer Success Center at Flashfood :

"Hi there! I live in the poorest community in Illinois and I'm trying to find places that offer low cost help for others near me (I'm blessed and help others as much as possible but funds are running thin) PLEASE help get our local stores onboard. I live in ... Please help me help my community!"

We get requests like this frequently, and are working to expand as fast as possible because the need is great. Our product uniquely connects these shoppers to retailers solving a different problem. And to be clear, we're just one of many ways this problem is answered, including some of the most amazing leaders I know who inspire donors and volunteers to serve in their Food Banks, Food Pantries, Homeless Shelters, and give directly to those that they see in need. And yet, there are still so many who are malnourished, die from starvation, and suffer other diseases because of nutrition choices.

Poverty is a universal problem that shows up in places and spaces it shouldn't, robbing children of their dreams and parents of their sleep. And I'm not sure how you can choose joy when you are too weak to walk, too cold to speak, or too ostracized to engage with your community.

Choosing Joy

This is the time of year where the absence of joy is more visible than not, and I hope that you are choosing to find it. I also hope that you are choosing to share it with others. Many we see each day are carrying poverty that they are unaware of, but others are acutely aware of it. And their desire to experience joy, which is much more than happiness, can be accelerated by you. By me. By us. Lighting candles should benefit more than one person, so if you find yourself rich in joy -- it's a great time to be generous.