It can be easy for us to take work for granted. We see work as a necessary evil. We go to work so we can make money and buy things. Work is a step on the path toward what we want.
If we can change jobs and get more money for doing the same work, or less, we can buy more.
Work is how some people keep score. They measure their own progress by the titles of their jobs, the people with whom they have worked. Some people even see the amount of money they are paid as a measure of their value.
Some of us recognize work is deeper than just the way we make money. Work is more than a way to compete with other people. They see work as a vocation, a calling. Their work reflects their core values, deep truths about who they are.
How we approach and understand work reveals our priorities. We may demand perfection of ourselves before we are satisfied with our work. Our work may fill the rest of our lives with anxiety or fear. We may have fantasies about our work.
We may have met the people who know us best through work.
The way we work unveils our qualities and character. We may demonstrate persistence or cooperation, insight or impatience at work. Work helps wear away the masks we prefer to show the world, revealing our deeper selves.
Work has valuable lessons to teach us. Our work lives give us clearer pictures of our own personalities, and those of the people around us.
We explore under the surface of our work and discover deep truths.
What work is worthy of our doing it?
What does our work say about us?
How will we explore work more deeply today?
[Image by Shinichi Morita]
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