Work has the power to change lives.
Whether you own it or it owns you, whether you describe it or it describes you tips the scale and decides whether it creates or destroys. And whether we work hard, work smart, or work our charm, it is the thing that turns the ‘well said’ into ‘well done’.
It can be exhausting, monotonous, challenging, exciting, or draining. But those who enjoy work, know that it’s more about tuning in to the reason behind whatever we are doing than about simply showing up for what we are supposed to do.
There’s lots in a name. It’s a switch to trigger emotions, expectations, and bias attached to it which influence our reactions and choices. And in whichever way we train ourselves to look at ‘work’, it will design the experience for us.
We can strive to create a life we love, one which we are proud of. Or, we can work ourselves to a shadow losing the sight of what truly matters. Because though it can be an all-access pass to satisfying relationships, meaningfulness in life, and that ever-elusive thing called contentment… work can also become a convincing excuse to avoid life.
It isn’t just about things that can be measured in popular milestones, but also about sitting quietly with oneself, getting more familiar with who we are so that every effort we make feels right. It is ‘have to’ for some and ‘want to’ for others.
The difference is what we hook our efforts to
— a drab routine or what it affords us to have.
Work, for me, isn’t something we get in the habit of waking up and going to everyday. It’s what drives us, what we are working towards — a comfortable today, a more secure future, protecting the honor of our country, or may be becoming the person who can lead with example for a more inclusive and tolerant mass of humanity. Work is what keeps me sane, brings order to life’s chaos, and helps me inch closer every day to the purpose of my life.
It’s also about setting my course for a way of life where there’s no expectation doing things for others, not even that vague sense of pride. Just contentment in the knowledge that here’s something which holds the promise of being paid forward in more ways than one. A lot of us tapped into it in the past year and a half.
Imagine what it can accomplish if we work towards making that just who we are.
For me, it is the effort we make to turn what we want, would like, wish it were so into our reality. It’s not just “I have to be at work”, but each thing we do to keep life moving in the right direction. I work to keep my loved ones happy, meet deadlines, to honor my commitments, to reach the goals that are just but stepping stones, and I work too on myself to become better each day.
Work is the grease that keeps the cogs moving smoothly. And no matter what meaning or form it takes, work remains the thing that helps design the life we live.
