The value of work

What is work? Why do we do it? What does it do for us? What should it do for us?

Work is defined as: activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something. Some people work with their hands doing physical labor. Others do very non-physical work. Whether it's physical or not, the exertion of energy is the key foundation of work.

Have you ever heard someone say, "If it were fun, they wouldn't call it work"? It is a question that makes us wonder, is enjoying your work a right? Even though work requires exertion, do we deserve to like have fun while we are exerting? Should work make us happy or make us tired? Or both?

A lot of people get into careers to directly help other people such as doctors, nurses, therapists, teachers, firefighters, and social workers (to name a few). Working in these professions (and others like them) provides some satisfaction and enjoyment from making an impact in people's lives. Other professionals get satisfaction from other components of work (sales, productivity, business development, career advancement, or just plain old money). Most people do the work they do for more than one of those reasons, but prioritize things differently. Some people could care less what they do, as long as they make a lot of money or have a comfortable life. Others care nothing about money and just passionately work to make an impact in others lives. And most of us are somewhere in between those two extremes.

I've sometimes joked with friends about trying to find a way to simplify life that would allow us to not have to work or be able to live more and work less, but that joke usually ends up with the realization that unless Kate and I want to live in a friend/family/commune, I've got to keep doing what I'm doing now. I've even read about downshifting, which is a way of life that attempts to simplify, de-materialize, and slow down your life, usually resulting in a decreased need to work as much. This approach seems radical at first, but I think there is definitely something to be said about examining our work-and-spend cycle of living. This type of living/thinking is hard because we live in a world that almost demands that we be concerned about making money, which drives us to work.

I think it's pretty hard to work and not think about money and finances. So, for me it's hard not to think about work as a means to money and let that be my sole motivation. My personal goal is to do a little less worrying about the financial aspect of work and focus more on the people I am helping (patients, co-workers, management) and the life I live beyond my work.