You know, work really can be fun. I have been working as office/business manager for a local builder since the beginning of the year, and it has had good days and bad. But the good generally outweighs the bad.
This blog is NOT, however, about my job. This is about work. In the course of my week, I spend a pretty hefty, sometimes unhealthy and almost always unproductive amount of time at my friend's coffee shop, and I talk to people. It is just one of those places, and this is just one of those towns where people talk to each other. Well, after spending two years in this town, I have talked to a lot of people almost all of whom have lots of good ideas.
But ideas are funny things. I have come across a lot of people who have wonderful ideas that never bear any fruit whatsoever because for that idea to bear fruit, some or a lot of work is involved. The problem is people today have a Pavlovian reaction to the word "work." As soon as you say "work" to someone (not everybody, but in general this is the case even for me) they feel as if some restrictive and oppressive force were stealing their time to enjoy life, and that work is just one of those negative aspects of life that we must deal with in order to pay rent, eat or provide for our families, etc.
I say NAY (yes, NAY) to this concept of work. The truth is that work is one of the most liberating things in life for mankind. Man is the only animal on earth with a creative nature. Other animals may create things, but not from original creative thought (do NOT send me any stories about chimps or elephants painting, when they write a symphony, call me). In other words, man is the only animal with original ideas, we are the only ones that can create something out of "nothing" but an idea. Work is the liberating force of this creative nature in us. Without work, our ideas are nothing and our creativity is robbed of its potential. Without ideas and creativity, man is not man, he is beast, a seemingly living thing with no great purpose other than to eat, poop, reproduce, sleep and repeat.
Most people have lost their sense of purpose in work, so they take jobs that pay the bills. It is no wonder that people have become opposed to the idea of work. We have become a "zoo" society in which people cage themselves in a job they hate, but at least they get fed on a regular basis. I wonder what would happen if every person in the Earth discovered a sense of purpose in their life and began working hard towards that purpose. That doesn't necessarily mean they change jobs. I mean that they discover purpose in their life and apply a hard working attitude towards that purpose. I venture to say that at the very least, the Earth would explode with people who are happy, satisfied, and that were able to sleep at night knowing that they had worked hard and accomplished much, and what they accomplished was good.
Most of the people I know that hate work usually either hate their jobs, or they don't like to have to wake up before lunch for work, because that means they have to go to sleep before breakfast, and their computer or friends do not allow them to do that. But the vast majority of them relate to the concept of work as a job in which they feel little purpose, have no goals and utilize a minimal amount of their creative nature to accomplish their tasks.
So, how does work become fun? This is the wrong question. The better question is "What is my purpose, and what can I do right now at this moment to start fulfilling that purpose?" Ok, so thats two questions in one, but its better than trying to figure out how to make work fun. If work is not fun to you, you aren't working right. Your job may not be fun, but have you discovered purpose in your job? I will bet anything that your boss has and will work with you to find value in that purpose. If you can't, and your boss can't help you, I would say find a job in which you find a sense of purpose.
No comments:
Post a Comment