Tomorrow is the last day before the first day back at work and I am still pretty skeptical as to how it is going to go, but the day starts with a doctor's appointment anyway, so it isn't going to be a full day. I actually have a few different medical appointments this week, so it is going to be an easy transition in. After almost two months, I am kind of getting used to the "do nothing" life and wonder what it will be like to get back into my old routine.
My wife is in recruiting and headhunting for a quickly growing company and it is interesting to have discussions about the various roles they are trying to fill. Finding the right person for a position is far harder than many people imagine, but I think if we all looked at the effort that we put in at our own workplaces, we would see at least part of the challenge.
Considering at least most people do their job for an income and not a passion, the chances of them putting in effort for a full day, is pretty slim. When there are specialized positions, it can be very hard to firstly find the necessary skills, then have them have the personality that is suitable to be part of the organization and after ticking all the other boxes, be able to offer them a competitive remuneration package. Not many people do their job for the love of it.
I have had quite a lot of jobs in my life and the vast majority of them have been pretty much solely for the money on offer, which was often, not very much at all. This meant that experience was on offer too, which was lucky, because I felt I have never had enough of that. I think this has meant that I have gained a bit along the way though.
But, while a job is a major part of life, at dinner tonight and on the drive home, we spent some time talking about what is actually important in life. Yes, most of us (like it or not) need money to live in this society, but what that money buys is possibility, How we use what we receive matters and I think part of the problem for many is that we spend so much energy on the obtaining, that we don't spend enough time on the consideration of our potential possibilities.
It is interesting these days as it seems that a lot of people are looking for some kind of escape from their lives, such as out of economic hardship, yet don't really know what they would do if they did indeed find themselves free. If asked the question "What is your purpose", what would you answer?
It seems difficult for many of us to find meaning in life and I think that we end up defaulting to those suggested to us through society, whether it be a job, a family or doing nothing much at all. Many of us spend the time avoiding thinking about it, while waiting for it to drop into our laps, rather than actively searching.
Sure, sometimes things work out this way with very little effort involved, but I think that when it comes to living a life that we as individuals value, it generally requires effort and experience. We have to experience what we enjoy, as well as what we don't and work out what we are willing to work for. In the case of living a life of flow, it requires not only having a skill, but using that skill to meet a challenge, and the challenge being difficult enough that success isn't guaranteed. This means that sometimes we fail, which means we have met a challenge we couldn't overcome at the time, but it gives us the experience and direction in how we can improve.
Living a life in front of a screen as a consumer requires no skill, but it doesn't mean it can't deliver the satisfaction of having a skill. It is like living a life through a proxy, living vicariously through the skills of others - where we can consume the best of the best and the best of the imagination doing things that we want to do, but will not actively learn how to do.
When I was talking to my wife tonight, she said that often she is too tired to do the things that are important to her, because she has to do the things that she needs to do, for example to earn an income. I think many are in this situation too, but being too tired to do what you love is a pretty good indicator that either priorities are misaligned or, you might not love it that much after all.
There is a reason that more people don't do what they love of course - and that is because it is hard as fuck. It is bullshit when people say "love what you do and you'll never work a day" because, *love what you do and you will work constantly, in the same way that a parent doesn't stop parenting ever, because they live their child. And, it is a hard bloody life. Working is the easy part, the sacrifice of doing what you love is far harder.
Yet, I am not sure if those who aren't working a job are doing what they love either, as many tend to be stuck in some kind of consumer mindset, grazing on what they are fed, waiting for something better to come along. Given all the time in the world most of us waste it in the same way that we waste an hour in front of a show we don't enjoy, just because we watched the episode prior and feel that now we have invested, we can't give up.
Now, I don't have any of the answers for you and I barely have answers for myself in regards to the best way about living a life, but I do believe that it isn't through waiting for a life to be delivered, as it already was. We didn't have a choice in our creation, but once born, we start on a journey of discovery of what our life is going to be. Sure, we can compare it to the lives of others, but at the end of the day, we are who we are and are capable of what we are capable of.
We might not be destined for greatness, but there must at least be the opportunity available for us to use what we learn to improve the life that we as an individual experiences. Usage isn't a passive act, it is an active application and it is up to us to use what we have available to us, in the way that we choose. Whether we see the light of our potential or stay hidden in the dark from ourselves, is up to us.
Striking a match to light the candle is a choice.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]