Are you interested in having work you love? Do you wait for Friday, anxious to get out of a place where you spend many hours every week in misery?  How could this be made better?  You can Locate, Learn, Purchase, Fashion or Love your occupation. 

Locate Work you Love:  You can seek new employment, the “perfect” position. Locate one that energizes you, gives you something to look forward to doing.

Learn a profession, craft or trade you love: Re-educate yourself and find colleges and schools within driving distance to assist you.  Even at home, there are on-line or distance learning courses available.

Purchase work you love: There are many business brokers who can sell you an existing business. Many individuals enjoy working long and hard, willingly, when it is one's own business

Fashion work you love: Create your own position. Build a business.  There is a vast array of careers and work opportunities from which to choose and there is also the potential to discover a new one.

Or…

Make your work Love.

Let me tell you a story.

I have a friend Nan, a petite, kindly woman. When she was younger she worked in a credit union and had an important interaction with a large, muscular, very angry customer.

He came into her ‘office’ one day, slamming the door so that all the partitions rattled.  Through the glass she could see the tellers’ eyes grow large. They motioned to her to see if she wanted them to call for help. Nan shook her head and turned her attention to the tall young man.

With a tone and energy that indicated his fury he yelled, “Why are you bouncing my checks?”  Nan said she wasn’t afraid, and calmly offered him a seat. She asked him for his check register and told him she would pull up a statement. He said, “I don’t have a check register,” pointing to his head, “I keep it all up here.” Nan told me she didn’t laugh. She doesn’t even know where the next questions came from but she said, “Do you work overtime?” He said, “Yes.” “Do you work swing shift?” “Yes.” “I’ll bet you’re tired?” Another “Yes.” She said to him, “I couldn’t keep it all in my head. If you’re tired, I don’t see how you possibly can. Let me show you how it’s done.”

Nan spent some time with him that day, but this incident might have been forgotten in the intervening years if it hadn’t been for a letter she received months later. It was from his mother. It thanked Nan for being so kind to her son.  He had told his mother her name, how nice she was, the time she spent with him, and what he learned. The note recalled how proud he was that he never bounced another check. Maybe the writing was healing for she also said he had recently been killed in an auto accident.

It was a significant event for Nan. She told me, “At the time I wasn’t thinking about what my life work was. But I found that beyond pushing paper I did have a purpose. I could be of service to people.” She was being Love.

We want to have a vocation we love, but vocation means ‘call.’ What if the call isn’t to love a particular occupation but just a call to love? Again, right here, right now, at this place, and with these people who are in our lives? What would that mean for you?

What if this life is not about your career, financial, or social success? What if it’s all about learning to express love better? Being fully what you really are?

Now that’s quite a job! ;-)

Lynn Durham, RN, adjunct professor, wellness consultant, speaker, author and well-being coach. www.lynndurham.com 603-926-9700