Job Or Lifeworks?
Job or life work "Your employer may dictate every aspect of your
work life, but no
matter what kind of job you do, you are the boss of your inner
life."
We spend the largest portions of our lives at work or sleeping.
So more and more people are demanding that there is no division
between who they are at home and at work. No longer can people
say I go to this
job to earn a living and I come home and I am a spiritual being.
Bringing the Higher Power into ordinary life is more important
than it
ever has been. People can no longer divide themselves up and say
I am
this here and that there. Let us look for a moment at job
addiction. Matthew Fox has recently
written a fine book on work, The Reinvention of Work. He
indicates that
the difference between work and job addiction revolves around
whether
the burdens that accompany our work are greater or lesser than
the joy
that results from it. Fox then specifies three soul qualities
that
comprise joy in work; delight, creativity, and transformation.
Job
addiction lacks these three qualities.
Since work is such an important element of our lives that means
that we
are supposed to find joy in our work as well. A business that is
operated in awareness of universal principles is first
acknowledges the
inseparability of the cosmic and the material aspects of life.
It
integrates the two. It is cognizant of the truth that there is
no
scarcity and thus no need for cut throat competition. It sees
the value
in cooperation over competition. Ask yourself some questions:
What in your life brings you joy? Do you like to work alone or
with others? What kind of rewards do you need to feel your work
is well done? Will a change of attitude about work change the
way you feel about your work? Will it take a change of work
entirely to bring you joy? When you find answers to some of
these questions within you will be in
a better position to know what it is you want from your life
work. Looking within and knowing oneself is one of the first
steps to finding what you want to be doing as work in the world.
Part of this seeking is
aligning oneself with their Higher Power each day. How does one
do this? By quieting the mind and seeking within the
answers to life's questions. Then taking what one learns out
into
everyday life for meditation is but a waste of time if we do not
take
action. Using the ideas of there is an abundance in this
universe takes away
the fear and allows us to see that we do not have to compete or
compare
ourselves to anyone else. There is enough for everyone. You may
do the
same work as someone else but you will do it in your own unique
way. We must be what we ask for. What does this mean in the
workplace it
means if we want respect, recognition, appreciation we must give
these
things to others. By being all that you ask for you will create
the
environment and relationships that you want in your work.
"The voyage of discovery lies not in finding new landscapes, but
in
having new eyes." Marcel Proust Having the proper perspective is
an important part of working. As we
perceive a thing to be is how it will be. In other words what we
expect
from our work we will receive.
If we are living spiritual values throughout our lives work will
just
be another place where we find Joy.