Why We Work
No doubt there is some truly primal force that compels us to get up and go to work. Some need genetically ingrained in our DNA to accomplish - something. Perhaps in earlier times it was simply a way to leave a mark, to scratch a drawing on a wall and say, " hey, I was here." And from there, to leave bigger and better marks to affirm our presence. After all, we live in a beautiful world full of beautiful things - things we sometimes travel thousands of miles to admire. Because we were here, because we did something.
A lot of time has passed since we constructed a shelter, made a fire, and etched drawings on stone walls. It was, of course, simple survival that first forced man to work. You want to eat, you want to survive, you had no choice but to obtain food and create a safe place to return. For every creature comfort desired, there was an initiated element of work to obtain it.
Have we then really changed all that much? We want things, we want to leave a mark. We work.
Now when that alarm goes off, destiny is not generally our first thought. It's more likely "I don't want to do this again today. I hate my boss. I hate this job, screw them, I'm calling in!" Of course that's not everyone. There are many, many who enjoy the work they have chosen to obtain a certain lifestyle filled with the comforts they desire. Many, who are driven to make valuable contributions, beautiful things, and leave great marks.
For the working mass it's easy to loose sight of the big picture. It's easy not to see anything but the paycheck at the end of work. And when that check is gone, tall that remains is the knowledge that if more is desired, one has to go and do it all over again.
My father once told me that "there is pride in all work." I didn't understand it but over time it made sense. I've never forgotten his remark. No matter what you do for work, no matter how grand or how meager the task, it is all part of a whole.
Whatever work is to you, it can be more. And that is the purpose of Work Lessons. Read my book and you will at some point, maybe more than once, realize what you have learned about life through work, and also how you will never look at work the same way again.
Enjoy.
A lot of time has passed since we constructed a shelter, made a fire, and etched drawings on stone walls. It was, of course, simple survival that first forced man to work. You want to eat, you want to survive, you had no choice but to obtain food and create a safe place to return. For every creature comfort desired, there was an initiated element of work to obtain it.
Have we then really changed all that much? We want things, we want to leave a mark. We work.
Now when that alarm goes off, destiny is not generally our first thought. It's more likely "I don't want to do this again today. I hate my boss. I hate this job, screw them, I'm calling in!" Of course that's not everyone. There are many, many who enjoy the work they have chosen to obtain a certain lifestyle filled with the comforts they desire. Many, who are driven to make valuable contributions, beautiful things, and leave great marks.
For the working mass it's easy to loose sight of the big picture. It's easy not to see anything but the paycheck at the end of work. And when that check is gone, tall that remains is the knowledge that if more is desired, one has to go and do it all over again.
My father once told me that "there is pride in all work." I didn't understand it but over time it made sense. I've never forgotten his remark. No matter what you do for work, no matter how grand or how meager the task, it is all part of a whole.
Whatever work is to you, it can be more. And that is the purpose of Work Lessons. Read my book and you will at some point, maybe more than once, realize what you have learned about life through work, and also how you will never look at work the same way again.
Enjoy.
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