Working for the Long Run

It is easy for us to get caught up in what needs to be done immediately.

We have a list of work we need to do this morning, today, this week, and this month. Our long range goals are for this year. We work to make progress right now, and keep moving.

We may not remember the projects and goals we worked on last year, or the year before. We have no idea what we will be working on next year, or the year after.

We live our working lives immersed in the immediate. We may lose sight of the fact we are working for the long run. We are building and strengthening long term working relationships. We have goals and priorities that remain constant even when we change jobs.

The values driving our satisfaction and joy, making us who we are, outlast specific positions and tasks.

My most challenging project has already taken me longer than I can remember. It is difficult to foresee when it will be finished. There are days when I am not sure I will continue working on it, and would like to quit.

At the same time, it is my most rewarding project. Even as I question whether I am making any progress at all, I look back and see how far I have come.

Transcending anything else anyone has ever asked me to do, my longest term project continues on. It is not a matter of calculation, or analysis, or planning. Each day I work to discover my deeper, truer self.

Even the days when I struggle to continue working are full of discoveries that draw me onward.

What is your longest term project?

Where are the places you are willing to work for the rest of your life?

[Image by vancouverfilmschool]