Some of the happiest people I know are not “doing what they love” in their work and career. Some assemble the same widget over and over, some push papers, some say “Welcome to Wal-Mart” all day, some clear restaurant tables, and none would tell you they always dreamed of doing any of these things.
But because they revel in family and love, making and keeping friends, togetherness and solitude, exploring the new and revisiting the old, and because they may indulge in hobbies, entertainment, art, nature, God and spirituality, these things are all there with them in their work as well. Indeed, this indulgence in the stuff of life is what enables them to discover relationships, growth, purpose and sometimes even pleasure in the work they do, mundane as that work may be. These people seem to love what they do, or at least like it, no matter what the “it” is.
There are days when I long for a mundane job...where I can just be mindless at my job and think about things that are more important. His description of his job as a carrot juice technician reminded me of my first job - as a tractor driver. I loved that job. It was boring and mundane, but I had solitude, plenty of time to think and reflect, and most of the time I had a radio to listen to. I did a lot of growing up during those 4 summers of tractor driving because of all the time I spent by myself. I miss those days.
1 comment:
this is EXACTLY ME right now - I listen to the radio - Dr Joy Brown - in the afternoon and NPR in the morning. Sometimes I think - sometimes I don't think at all and loose myself in the radio show. I could not TAKE any other type of job - right now - maybe at some other time - but not now.
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