Work = Joyful?

Should Work Be Joyful?

Work is work. We do it for money, nothing more, and a lot less. Right? Do you ever run into people who claim to love what they do? I do. My father claims to have loved his 45 years of being a counselor. Why is that? Could it be there's an incongruence between what people feel they must do and what they want to do? Could it be they're not listening to God's call to do something that matches their personality but makes less money? Whatever the reason, it's clear to me work should be more enjoyable than not. I submit you should enjoy work. If you don't, then there's something out of balance with you, your job, or both and you have an obligation to be introspective enough to find some answers and take action.  I'll try not to get too theological on you, but the basis for most people's work lives, and angst about purpose, comes from their spiritual lives.

You Are the Subject of Work.

I'll grant you it's just a fact of life we can't all make money doing what we'd like due to the dearth of options. In fact, full employment wouldn't mean full job satisfaction because job descriptions are grouped, not individualized. Consider sales jobs. They almost all require objective activity and production measurements. These million or so job descriptions aren't modified to suit subjective personality traits. But don't stop there. Hamburger flippers, car manufacturers assembly line workers, plant workers, log splitter, you name it - they all require work whose job descriptions fail to address a person's creative, emotional, spiritual, psychological, or other unique characteristics. Since this will never change, we must think about our "enjoyment" of work in a different paradigm. Each person must reconcile their individual characteristics with each generic job description. In other words, you must ply your trade according to the capacity of your personality. And this means, you, not the company profits (albeit important), are the subject of work. .

What does this mean you are the subject of work?

I think people of all faith disciplines can find guidance in two documents wrrient by the late John Paul II.  Laborem Exercens (Encyclical on Human Work), issued by John Paul II, September 14, 1981; and (2) Centesimus Annus (Centenary Encyclical on Capital and Labor), issued by Pope John Paul II, May 1, 1991. If time's a problem, I can quote and paraphrase relevant excerpts to illustrate the point.

John Paul II wrote "Work thus belongs to the vocation of every person; indeed, man expresses and fulfills himself by working." (Centesimus Annus, 6). "[W]work is a good thing for man..It is not only good in the sense that it is useful or something to enjoy, it is also good as being something worthy,.to man's dignity, that expresses this dignity and increases it. If one wishes to define more clearly the ethical meaning of work it is this that one must particularly keep in mind. Work is a good thing for man-a good thing for his humanity-because through work man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfillment as a human being and indeed in a sense becomes "more a human being."" (Laborem Exercens, 40).

Given the premise work is to be enjoyed, and man is the subject of work, we're left with the question of how those jobs , the ones I'll call "must-take" jobs, should be viewed. The teaching is clear enough on this point. The illumination on work is on the individual doing the work, not the work itself. The harder part is to create a positive habit of reorienting the conscience to believe it. After all, God created the human being in His own image. He doesn't say that with respect to the soulless work itself. We need to recalibrate our thoughts to reflect this fundamental truth.

In practice, this means refusing an incessant analysis of how your job is either boring or has no direct causal relationship to what you can perceive as good. This desired "directness" seems to be the source of so much malaise people feel towards their work. This malaise is also the source for so much gossiping and backbiting. Remember, Matthew 20 regarding workers in the vineyard who started at different times of the day complaining about fairness of pay for those who started work later than they did. Stop all o the nonsense. Rather, simply meditate on how it's you doing whatever, anything at all, with the emphasis on you the actor, God's own, doing the work. The work will take care of itself. All work in some sense provides something for others, usually a living of some type. So you can always take comfort knowing (1) it's you God is interested in as the subject of work and (2) no one does great things, they only do small t things with great love - Mother Theresa.

What now?

I advocate doing whatever you can to make money doing what you like. I think everyone who's not completely content with their jobs spend countless hours dreaming, far less planning , about what they'd really like to do. There's a paradox in the midst of the current recession on this point. While I've listened to numerous stories of people giving consideration to work which better corresponds to their natural interests, many if not most are interested in finding any job which pays the bills. If you're one of the fortunate ones, God bless you, and keep it up. But if you're not lucky enough to be paid to do exactly what you want (almost all of us), must you automatically dislike the job you have to take? I think not. The "less than perfectly content" worker should be able to find something in her daily duties to not only reduce questions about the meaning or usefulness of his or her work, but to find joy in that work.

I think a plan always helps. I've put together a short seven step plan to help.

Seven Steps to Enjoyment

To enjoy "must-take" jobs, try following the next seven steps.

First, remember what we just discussed. You are the purpose of work. This singular reminder is the best weapon against the daily doldrums associated with less than ideal jobs. The next six steps are practical ways God may be calling you for a return on his investment into the natural talents He's given to you. For reasons you may never know, he may want you to work hard, stretch for what you want, and in the process touch people's lives. Remember Matthew 25 in the parable of talents where God rewards those who use their skills to God's advantage.

Second, write down your natural skills which correspond to your likes. For example, I know a lot of lawyers who are good at practicing law but hate it.   Many are more interested in teaching, owning a business,etc.  Doesn't mean they can make money at these other endeavors, but since they like it,  they're willing to put in extra effort to see where it goes. 

Third, think through ways to improve the skills you enjoy.

Fourth, practice those skills in whatever free time you can create for yourself. This probably means at night. If you have kids, you may have to wait until the kids go to bed. This is a real challenge.

Fifth, network with people who work in your area of interest.

Sixth, gradually find ways to provide your work to third parties for feedback. If you're a cook, try out your dishes on anyone who will taste them. Furniture makers can market their work on consignment, or ebay. Public speakers can practice on family members. You get the idea.

Seventh, never quit. Rejection is a given. You may have several interests, a natural curiosity which manifests itself in several different interests. Try them all. You will find you like some more than others. The key is to keep trying.

These seven simple steps will at least move you in a direction to understand what you're good at, what the market looks like for your specific skills, and whether you can make it happen. Even if this takes the rest of your life, you'll know God got a return on his investment. You worked hard, you left no stone unturned, and you did your best. All the while, if you're working in a job you don't really enjoy, you'll at least have the daily opportunity to offer it up to God in gratitude because you, not the job, are the subject of work.