When you’re a kid, basic stuff can bring great joy.  A cardboard box could be transformed into a castle or spaceship.  As a kid I had a trampoline; well, it was a big inner tube from a truck, with a piece of leather strapped around it.  Nothing like ones today, but it was everything I needed.  I could put on my superman suit and launch into the sky or lift it over my head pretending it was a boulder.  The simplest things meant so much.  As you get older, some of that can get lost and when days are filled working instead of playing, it can be hard to stay in touch with the child inside, but not impossible. 

 I think work can be fun.  That doesn’t mean it’s easy.  Days can be long, goals can seem unattainable and people can be challenging.  Despite that, I believe we can find happiness along the way if we try.  Sure, there’s a potential downside in fostering a business culture with that in mind.  There’s a risk you won’t be taken seriously, or the atmosphere may get too relaxed and people will lose sight of why we’re here.  It’s all about balance.  There is a time and place for formal and informal, for playfulness and professionalism.  Freedom is a business that provides an important service to our members and the community, but the Freedom experience is about what we bring to it, our personality and letting a little of that youthful exuberance shine through with each interaction.

 “Don’t walk too far away from the child within you, and never abandon the sense of wonder that magnifies the smallest of things into mountains of joy.  For one day, when you lose sight of happiness, that child within can guide you back to the things that once nourished your heart.”  ~ Dodinsky