Engagement

Yesterday afternoon, as MaryBeth and I played with our grandkids I was reminded how hard we must work to fully engage ourselves and employees in wellness.  We first played with a box of multicolored frisbee’s  going from partner toss to a game of tossing the frisbee into a laundry basket.  They quickly lost interest as the frisbee toss games became too complicated (baby steps in wellness builds engagement), so we moved to hockey sticks and brooms with an upside down frisbee as the puck.  The oldest grandson got more engaged in broom hockey and started making up the rules (engagement takes ownership), which caught the attention of his younger brother, who began playing even harder.  I found a plastic bat and ball in the garage and for a short time we had a batter and pitcher, but our baseball game didn’t last long for it only involved two players and got boring quick (wellness engagement happens by meeting our needs and interest).  Next I dumped a backpack full of small rubber balls onto the driveway and Auggie, our dog, went wild chasing the grandkids and balls.  What fun!  Yes, fun and celebration are important ingredients of wellness engagement.   When it was almost time to break up the fun I brought out my old cornet I played in high school.  With MaryBeth’s help (professional support is great, but peer support is critical for engagement), our youngest grandson blew what sounded like Jingle Bells and became mesmerized by the different sounds he could make.  How will you successfully ENGAGE yourself or your employees this year in being well?