Earlier last week I was listening to an afternoon program on the radio and heard the presenter ask the question, what is a career? The options given included; A. your life’s work, B. A part time job and two other incorrect answers. The answer clearly was option A. The phrase life’s work stuck a nerve when I began to think about my life’s work. Pondering what would be the end result of my years of toil and labor made me both hopeful yet sorrowful. Ideally I am in the prime of my life. I have energy, enthusiasm, and drive just to name a few. But one must ask of himself at the end of everyday, did I really make a difference in anyone’s life today while being gainfully employed. Did I make any positive contribution to my life other than drawing closer to my next pay cheque? Did I DO anything worthwhile? This point hit home for I plan not to be one of those individuals who are only as good as their last pay stub. The reality is that it happens to the best of us no matter how good our intentions are. To keep this post short and to the sweet I will end with the old proverb that goes something like this:
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
The question I ask is this, what will be lost for the want of a job? Will it be your childhood dream, your relationships, your health, your pride etc. all for the want of a pay cheque!
Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers says the following “Hardwork is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning. Once it does, it becomes the kind of thing that makes you grab your wife around the waist and dance a jig”.
Deep I like it! I ask myself this question every day! and when people bring their children to me and say remember you took care of her/him when she was a baby.... and they tell their child.. This Nurse Fight with you when u were a premee I feel this over whelming feeling of pride. My hard work is the key to my happiness so keep pushing on!! :)
ReplyDeleteIn my experience a career is a form of employment that brings you pleasure, satisfaction and fulfillment--collecting a paycheck while doing something you feel passionate about. A shoe shiner can have a career as a shoe shiner and a someone who collects garbage can look at that as his or her career once it meets the above description. Anything less is just a job. There are times when career goes through short patches of feeling like a job--thats just human nature as we are often not content or satisfied but a true career eventually takes you back onto the the more fulfilling path. Some people may consider just earning tons of money doing "whatever' a career as that brings them happiness and fulfillment while a doctor with who has studied up to a PGD with special training can find himself a skilled sort after surgeon but may feel like its his "job" if he is doing it for the wrong reasons and not finding true satisfaction in it. Hopefully this brings a but of understanding and resonates with someone.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine the feeling you get from that Rissa I'm always of the opinion that teachers and nurses don't get their due respect from the rest of the working world and its a shame to say the least.
ReplyDeleteThanks for ytour insight Aunty Na I mean you've had your career going for a while now so your comment is well received, appreciated and resonated :-)
I totally agree with you on this, same reason why I decided to come study.
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