A Passion for Work
Posted on February 19, 2020 by dragonspitapothecary
Many of us have lost the passion for day-to-day living. Oh sure we look forward to the Friday, the weekend, our summer vacation or some other major event. However we are always looking forward instead of where we are now. It’s always something in the future or something we’re waiting for that we are showing some excitement for. Some would call this wishing our life away.
With it being reported that over 70% of us are dissatisfied, feel insecure about or just plain don’t like our jobs it is little wonder why we are wishing our days by. We awake in the morning dreading that meeting that’s on our calendar for the day. We drive to work with worry about the latest round of layoffs that are occurring in a division you work with regularly. We sit at our desks hoping the day goes by smoothly and we can get out on time to pick up the kids. No where though is there an eagerness to do what we’re doing. It’s just a job. It could be gone tomorrow so we keep our head low and just do what we need and leave. Our life being outside work.
In my 30 plus career in healthcare I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs. I’ve been laid off, fired, promoted, relocated, made promises to that were sometimes fulfilled and so on. I always thought I was lucky getting to work in a field that helped so many people. It was an industry I thought would always be secure because everyone at some time or other will need healthcare. In the beginning of my career I deeply cared and was passionate about everything I did at work. I wanted to learn it all and make it better with my own contributions. Alas we all start out that way don’t we? Yet at some point in our career burnout or some major hurt will come and the illusion of security, promise for our futures and value of our contributions will become shaken.
If I asked you what you would do if you won a large sum of money what would you say? Most I know, myself included would as one of our first things say we’re leaving our job. I’d pay off our house, plan a couple major trips I’ve always wanted to take and make sure my son’s college fun was loaded. I’d enjoy life doing things I love. Does that sound similar to what you would say? It’s funny to think how quickly we would discard our jobs if that happened to us. That tells me the statistics are true and we truly are not happy in our work. We are doing what we must trading our happiness, creativity, contribution and passion for a paycheck. A necessary and vital paycheck but nonetheless at an expense to ourselves.
When I think about passion and what it means in my life work is usually the last thing I’d say it about. I’m passionate about my family and making sure we have what we need. I’m passionate about my small business and this blog where I share what’s on my mind and what I’m learning for living more naturally. I’m passionate for things I love doing and that which makes me feel happy, excited, motivated and most like myself. Passion in my life is where I feel the most complete. It’s where I want to put my energy to create. It’s where I can let my own voice out and not feel like I need to tone it down or align it to the common ideals of others expectations. I don’t have to fit in and the more it feels authentic and the opposite of fitting in the more passionate I am about it.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to feel that way all the time? Instead of waking up dreading what your day holds, wouldn’t it feel incredible to wake up and want to do everything on your list? Wouldn’t it be fantastic to have energy throughout your day purely because you’re looking forward to today? Even if it was a Monday? Imagine not wanting it to be Friday or the weekend or summer break. How different would your life look if every day contained something you looked forward to doing?
In many ways having passion is something we create in our own lives. For me that included starting my own small business and this blog so I could pour out the creativity and ideas that didn’t fit in my career. It meant accepting I couldn’t just walk out of my job today but I could build something bit by bit every day that would eventually allow that to happen on my terms. Surprisingly it has also given me a greater peace in my career. I am still with calendar appointments I don’t enjoy and worry the layoffs will come to my division but I have hope. I have a hope that I generated because I let my passion pour into something that can one day be the replacement for the job. I let passion stir in me the creativity and voice that has been stifled and trained to conform to the subjective opinions of others for how things should be done. I ignited a fire in my life that wasn’t even a cold ember when it came to work after years of hurt, disappointment, worry and unreliability.
Given that it is now the start of a new decade I think it’s time more of us found a way to reignite the passion in work. I’m not at all talking about our current employment situation but rather finding a way to let that true creative spirit we all have out in some way that fuels us each day. That outlet that gives us back the controls in our life and makes paychecks fun to earn. Crazy to think about the possibilities of what that could look like right?
I think we were all made to be entrepreneurs to some extent in our life. Not all of us are interested in or want to run our own business per se but we desire the ability to create and contribute in our own voice. We all have something in us that has a purpose and that purpose isn’t directly being tapped in the jobs we have today. What would your work look like if there were opportunities to do what you really like to do? What would you do differently? How would you feel?
The more we tap into how we feel, what our calling is and finding ways to let those things out the greater passion we generate. The more excitement in us builds and the more we desire, work on and create to make it our life’s work. I want to teach my son to have that type of work in his life over a career. I would love for my own small business to become our primary income for our family so I can have that myself. How different our lives would be indeed.
As I move through this journey of expanding the passion in my own work life, I am finding it rewarding, exciting, and fulfilling. It is work I didn’t envision before and yet it evolves continually to show me where my heart is calling. This is why it is so important to shop small business, support your friends who start their own business and explore what this looks like for yourself. The more we do these things the more we are fueling one another’s passion for work and life. We are building and evolving our world to align with our true purpose and finding ways to truly be ourselves. Living more naturally and loving all that each day brings us.
What does that look like for you?
If you’re ready to explore and see how it’s possible, click here: dragonspitapothecary.com/grow