Languishing in the boredom of his monotonous job as a junior analyst in the financial district, Antoine excitedly looks forward to the completion of his business degree. With this degree, he should be more marketable and something better would surely come along. 

The longed for day arrives… but still no word from any of the employer he covets. Many a night did he spend searching for new positions; applying and applying, following up on past applications, reaching out to old classmates on LinkedIn, desperate for a lead, for anything.

Then one day, he unexpectedly receives a message from a recruiter for a job interview. He excels and is soon offered the position of senior business analyst at an Information Technology company famous for its excellent treatment of its employees. Antoine is happy with the company and cheerfully gives more than is expected of him.

Several months later, he comes to know that a fellow senior business analyst, who only has a high school degree but is equally as productive, takes home the same pay he does. Greed quickly raised its head in the guise of fairness. 

“How could this be, I have a college degree?” he says to his manager. “I am being unfairly compensated.” And so began his fall at the company. Long forgotten was his desperate state before the recruiter’s message, long forgotten was his joy at receiving the job offer. Long forgotten was the fact that he would happily have accepted 20% less than what he received. Only the thought of receiving the same wages as someone he deems less qualified… only this stirred the desire to get more.

Little did he know what his greed had cost him. Unbeknownst to him, his cheerfulness had caught the eye of the company’s chief financial officer who had planned to nominate him for an executive leadership program and thereby fast-track his development at the company. This was now off the table.

…..

The man who cheerfully gives more to others than is expected of him, without expecting a reward, would in return receive much more than he ever dreamed of. Why? Because in giving cheerfully, he swings in the radiations of love – the greatest power there is.