Koch’s Choice

Each year on my birthday, I ask myself two questions: Am I satisfied with my life? Am I happy? One year, I really thought about the second question and realized I was relying on luck or chance because that’s what happy means: an unplanned happenstance. Having discovered that happiness is an accident, the question I now ask instead is: Am I joyful? Because joyfulness is a choice. I recommend having fun. Life is a gift, and we should be joyful every one of the 1,440 minutes of every day. Sometimes we’re so focused on our journey that we fail to notice the more important gifts of life. We’re so preoccupied with things we need to get done that we forget that it’s our connections with each another that really matter. We’re so driven with career and personal goals, and often get competitive as we aim to achieve them. We must remind ourselves that in addition to a career, we each have a calling. A career is what we get paid for, but a calling is what we’re made for. We learn early that in the game of life everyone gets fouled, so we need to make our own sunshine and share it with everyone who touches our lives. In spite of tough times and difficult days, we must forgive, pardon, let bygones be bygones, and be magnificent to one another. That’s the essence of our calling: kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and love. Total realization of this calling came to me when I wasn’t paying attention. Thanks to Heaven’s benevolence, I learned a joyful lesson that changed my life. One of the lessons my mom taught me when I was young was how to do laundry. Every Monday evening after the dishes had been washed, I’d be in the basement, stationed alongside our Sears & Roebuck Apex top-loading washing machine and flanked by three large wicker baskets of soiled clothes (Mom’s sorting method was colored garments, underwear, and outerwear. Delicates were washed individually by hand and thus never placed in a basket). She told me the difference between detergent and soap: Detergent is low suds, made from chemicals, while soap is bubbly, rendered from vegetable oils or animal fat. Therefore, Mom’s #1 rule for laundry: Always use detergent! Years later, at age 23, I was a college freshman, living in the first coed dormitory on the campus of Indiana State University. A coin-operated laundromat with automatic washers and dryers for students was located two blocks away, but I wasn’t about to lug my laundry two blocks there and back. There had to be a better way! Late one night, doing some investigative research in my dormitory, I discovered the basement utility room. Inside were a single laundry tub, a top-loading Whirlpool washer, and an electric dryer for the housekeepers and maintenance staff to launder uniforms, towels, and cleaning cloths. The best discovery of all? The machines were not coin-operated! So around 12:30 am the following night, barefoot with my laundry in tow, I quietly made my way downstairs to the utility room. I switched on the light, closed the door, and loaded the washer with my jeans, khakis, and shorts. Time was of the essence: no sorting, no problem. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten laundry detergent. However, on the shelf near the laundry tub was an almost full bottle of Joy dishwashing liquid. I set the washing and rinse cycles, water temperature, and then, since I wasn’t quite sure how much soap to use, emptied the bottle of Joy into the washer. Closing the lid, I fired up the Whirlpool...