Working For The Love Of It

An LDS Chapel

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Today for church I was finishing my last two Ward Conference presentations on Family History in a building I do not normally attend.  Our block of meetings each Sunday for each ward lasts 3 hours.  I went to the first block of meetings and did my presentation.  Then I returned home for awhile and came back to church when it was nearly time for my second presentation.    The Church service was still in session for the meeting right before my part in the next ward.  So I quietly slipped in to the last row and sat down next to this young woman.

She was very sweet and noticing she didn't recognize me,  she introduced herself to me when the meeting ended.  I explained to her why I was there and we chatted for a brief moment.  As she stood to leave she said, " I am sorry to miss your presentation but, I get to go and work in the nursery now. "I thought her response was unusual and delightful.  She didn't have to go to the nursery, or need to go to the nursery...She got to go to the nursery.  She either had a natural desire to go be with the babies and work, or had cultivated it, but she was definitely happy to be going to the nursery.

It has been said that if you love what you do it will not seem like work to you.  Sometimes that love comes naturally, you just seem to have a passion for a particular thing and do it for the sheer enjoyment of it.  Other times that love must be cultivated.  I think a lot of people fall into the second category on most things.

How do you feel about the work you get to do?

One thing we can do is to change our paradigm of the meaning of work in our lives.  Work need not be drudgery or unfulfilling.  When we recognize that work is essential to our livelihood and well-being as productive members of society it makes a difference in how we view it.  It adds a richness and sense of accomplishment and meaning to our days when we find a purpose in what we do.

Sometimes we have a problem with maturing beyond the feelings we had as children when asked to do our daily chores because we'd just rather be doing something else.  When we have that feeling of being forced to do something, the natural resistance of that creates quite a drag on our ability to do hard things.  We can also have that resistant attitude when someone else suggests we should be doing something.  We may also be well-intended, but procrastination paralyzes our movements forward.

Often times a task seems overwhelming and undoable just from a fearful point of view.  There is not enough time, I cannot master the skills needed, it is just too much to ask of me when I have X, Y, and Z all pulling me in different directions. We are afraid to try for fear of failure.  We forget that an arrow rarely hits a bull's eye on the first try.  Often what is needed is a call to action within ourselves.  Being self-motivated creates the best environment for cultivating a love for the work we are called to do, no matter what it is.

I have a problem with this when I feel over-extended. The more pressure I feel I have, the less I  enjoy work.  So I really have to pace myself and not let it get to the boiling point.  I think this comes from years of burning the wick on both ends of the candle."

A wise doctor I once worked for said, "You manage the daily patient schedule,  or it manages you!"  Such true words.    Retirement from  the work-a-day world has taught me that my time is valuable and I need to be wise when I schedule my days.  Perhaps it is not just retirement but a sense of maturity that comes as one gets older and hopefully wiser.  I have learned to trade something good for something better sometimes.  In creating that balance I am truly able to love the work I choose and get to do.

We all have a work to do.  I am going to concentrate and make an effort to say what I get to do and not what I have to do, when I am speaking about my life and specifically about work.  Our words shape our thinking and every time we say I HAVE To Do Something, that little kid inside of us puts the skids on it.  At my age I should be able to outsmart that little Bonnie inside of me.  I am going to give it a go!

She may have a hard time listening to me the little Brat...Darling

but Hey,

 I am bigger than she is!

I HOPE YOU ENJOY WHAT YOU GET TO DO TODAY!