Reflections on Work - Part 1
Conventional wisdom says that some live to work, while others work to live, but both extremes are undesirable.
Those that lose themselves in their jobs, or titles, or careers, are lost indeed, for they filter life’s rainbow through the prism of work and declare the world one colour, with themselves the master of a single hue.
Those who find themselves chained to employment, whether from desperation or fear, are prisoners of the darkness who see life’s bright rays, at best, through the bars of impotence and boredom.
Both types are victims of insecurity and false identity, for work does not define us, but gives us the opportunity to define ourselves. Career choices do not dictate our worth, but allow us to celebrate our worth. Job titles say more about our sense of self-importance than our ability to do important work.
Employment does not equate to the contribution we are making in society, nor the potential we have to make a positive difference in the lives of others. It is a strange irony that the most valuable work is least valued in our material world, while the most selfish pursuits are glorified and richly rewarded.
We live in an age of inverted values. As with nature, so too with work: the smallest, humblest and least visible are the most pervasive, productive and critical – the very foundation on which the balance of life depends.
Source
Extracted and adapted from The Poetry of Business: A CEOs Quest for Meaning