Working

It's a strange thing...the way that most humans spend our lives....

We have very little time here...less than a hundred years.... and we spend time doing things we don't love to do.

Well...we all have to do things we don't wanna do.

I'm talking about how we spend the majority of our time.....working.

I had a conversation with a friend recently...she's unhappy with her work situation....I told her a story that happened to me many years ago.

It was during a time when I was young....when my career was the most important thing and I spent far too many hours and invested too much of my energy at the office.

I was climbing the corporate ladder and was frustrated with office politics.
Very frustrated.
A co-worker, a few years my elder, said to me "Don't let it upset you. This isn't real."

Huh?
It isn't real?

"No", he said "this isn't real. As in....these are not your REAL problems."

"This" (office) "is just something that you DO so that you can have MONEY so that you can live your REAL life." (at home).

"These people..these problems are not your REAL problems....what happens when you LEAVE here is what's real....what happens with the people you love....illness....relationships....THOSE are things you cannot walk away from....those things are your LIFE...THIS....you CAN walk away from...THIS...is just a job."

you know
I haven't seen or talked to him in years.
I haven't seen or talked to any of those people (save a handful that became my close friends...in my REAL life)....in years.

so true...it was just a job. I worked there for quite a few years...but it was just a blip of time in my REAL life.

and I think back...on all of those Monday mornings.... I remember the feeling that life was so monotonous....get up, work....home, cook, clean, sleep, get up, work...home, cook, clean...five times...then a short weekend...then do it all over again.

I think most of the people I know feel that way about how they spend their time.

We do THAT so that we can have THIS....but often....we are too tired from that (work) to enjoy this (life) anyway.

I wonder how many of us are doing things that we love.
How many of us have found something that we are passionate about...have found what our 'gifts' are....and use them....and feel that our WORK is not really work...but is a fulfilling part of our lives.

I'm raising two sons.
It occurs to me that we don't really spend time...or encourage THEM to spend time finding what they're good at...what they love...
we send them to school...make them fit into a 'box'....teach them WHAT to think (you need a good education so that you can get a good job to pay for cars and houses and lots of 'stuff').

Of course...we say that they should find something that they enjoy doing....but they aren't really afforded any time to discover that....

it reminds me of one of those emails that circulate from time to time:

An American tourist was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.
Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The tourist complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied, "Only a little while."
The tourist then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"
The Mexican said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."
The tourist then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life."
The tourist scoffed, " I can help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you could run your ever-expanding enterprise."
The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"
The tourist replied, "15 to 20 years."
"But what then?" asked the Mexican.
The tourist laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."
"Millions?...Then what?"
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."