ExploreTruth

Work used to make me angry. It was a silent sort of brewing. One that caused me to revert into my shell, silently confused as to my condition. The Monday morning blues never seemed to leave me. Even TGIF’s were always met with a silent and dreaded realization that this weekend would be short lived. Just like the last one.

I don’t think many people are aware of what psychological damage occurs as a result of succumbing to a dead end job. The dull ache, the monotony, the senseless paper shuffling all begging the question.

What am I doing here?

And yes, I’m aware that we are near double digit unemployment as a nation, and that to some I may sound like an ungrateful and unrealistic wacko.  From what I hear, where I live in Florida, the economy hasn’t been this bad since the 70′s.

But here’s my deal.

We spend the majority of our lives working. But unfortunately it’s a topic that gets little attention and serious analysis. For most people that I know, we stumbled in and out of our jobs almost quite randomly. For some, especially in recent economic times, just having a job, has replaced any probing into what and why we remain in occupations that don’t truly satisfy us.

Where did we get our concepts of what work was supposed to be?

It’s been a little over a year since I quit my job of 2.5 years. And today I am still transitioning into a fuller understanding of what it truly means to do work you love, and what that subject entails.  Prior to a year ago I’d worked all kinds of jobs.  From retail, collections rep, customer service rep, office/administration, sales manager, stock boy. During college, I began to investigate various ways to become self employed, or build a small business.  That led me to opening a shop in a flee market, starting a night club promotions business, becoming a real estate agent, trying door to door sales, and network marketing.  My successes and failures were less tied to the types of endeavors I chose, and probably more to do with the the kind of person I was at the time.

I guess somewhere along the way I began to explore the concept of work, and how I wanted to relate to it.  But although I had half the equation right(entrepreneurship), I was still missing something.

I’m Not Blessed

In so many ways I am blessed, but when it comes to being solely motivated by money, that doesn’t seem to cut it for me anymore(Whether in a cubicle or as “my own boss”).  I am no longer the straight hustler that I imagined myself to be in my twenties.  I look at some people now, and making a lot of money, in and of itself, can do it for them.  Money can get them up early and keep them up late.  And I’m not judging that at all.  But the thing that I was missing was a calling, or as Dr. Cornel West puts it, a vocation; something bigger than myself, a passion, a grander vision to propel me through the inevitable monotony that any worthwhile undertaking will bring.

The centrality of vocation is predicated on finding ones voice, and putting forth a vision.  All three are intertwined, vocation, voice, and vision.  I view vocation in stark contrast to mere profession.  Vocation cuts deeper.  – Dr. Cornel West

We all need money right?

I can hear it now, and have heard, and said it before.  I got bills to pay.  I got to keep “bread” on the table.  You’re single, you don’t have a family like I have. I gotta do what I gotta do.

A fairly simple question, with a fairly simple answer right?

Well, I’ll admit to not having all the answers.  Life can be pretty unpredictable.  I guess I’m speaking to the aspects of our lives, that we actually have control over.  The parts that are our reality only because of the way we think, or the habits we have formed.

Solution?

I am simply speaking to the possibility that our best/worst thinking has brought us to the point we are at currently, and that new ways of thinking may open up new possibilities.  Or at least we need to question the philosophy that what you do after the kid phase in life, must be something bared with clenched teeth, and half a smile.  Because lets admit it, most of us do not truly love what we do.

I’d like to hear what you think.  I have more to say on this topic of work.  And hopefully we can get to some ideas of how to better do the things we love.  And dig into what that even looks like.  It’s not all roses and music.

Can we discover a way to actually enjoy the time that will occupy one of the largest parts of our lives?  What sacrifices would that take?  We pay a price either way.