What Kind of Work Don't You Like?
People say you should like your work. If you do, that's a real blessing. Many people really don't like what they do. Some will even tell you they hate what they do.
If you hate what you do, try to find work you don't hate, maybe even work you enjoy. If you can't do that, or can't do that right now, offer up that work you don't like. Try to do your work as best you can and try not to let it make you grumpy, especially when you come home to your family after a day of working doing something you really don't like. Our Lord will appreciate you offering this up to Him, especially if you do it as an act of love.
But even those of us whose work is basically enjoyable frequently find some things we do during the day annoying. Again, those parts of our work - the tasks we we don't like to do - can be offered up to Our Lord too, especially when we offer them up with love.
I like my work, but I don't like everything about my work. A good part of what I do requires attention to detail. While I prefer focusing on the big picture, details make up that big picture, so they're very important. Paying attention to those details, understanding the interactions between the facts, figures, trends helps me understand the big picture.
But there are other kinds of details I don't like. Accurate record-keeping can drive me crazy. A good example is bookkeeping. Since I run a small business, I have to spend a certain amount of my time bookkeeping, or at least supervising and checking the accuracy of the books.
We probably all have things we don't like about our work, even when we basically really like the work we're doing. Here's a suggestion: Identify the things you don't like and make up your mind to change the way you do them.
First, don't procrastinate when you have to do some annoying or unnerving task. Do it right away. And when you do it, offer your promptness up to Our Lord.
Second, as you're doing your work, instead of focusing on the fact that it's annoying, unnerving, distasteful, or whatever, focus on doing it really, REALLY well. Maybe you can even think of Jesus, the Creator of the Universe, the Son of God, your Lord and Savior who humbled Himself to live here with us and worked just like we work. Think of Him being directed by St Joseph and - from time to time - having to do little tasks that He might not have chosen to do. Maybe He had to stop what He was doing - some act of cabinet-making He really enjoyed - and deal with a demanding customer who was being unreasonable. (Don't get me started on customers who are unreasonable!) I don't think He would have complained or been grumpy with Our Lady and St Joseph at the end of the day, do you?
So, figure out what you don't like and the next time it comes up, grab the chance to do it well and do it with love. Our Lord - whose terrible Passion and Death we recently observed - will acknowledge and appreciate your act of love, offered to Him in the midst of difficult circumstances.
And if you find it hard to not only offer up the work you don't like and do it with love, just think about His Passion and Death and how He offered Himself up for all of us. It should put your offering in perspective. At least it helps me to stop focusing on what I don't like about certain aspects of my work.
One more thing: The Easter Season - a time of joy - doesn't necessarily make our "unloved" work any more lovable. But don't let your celebration of Easter be derailed by that work that drives us crazy. So not only can we offer up that unpleasant work, how about we go the extra mile during Easter and do so cheerfully?
Maybe it will help if you remind yourself:
Christ is indeed risen! Happy Easter!
If you hate what you do, try to find work you don't hate, maybe even work you enjoy. If you can't do that, or can't do that right now, offer up that work you don't like. Try to do your work as best you can and try not to let it make you grumpy, especially when you come home to your family after a day of working doing something you really don't like. Our Lord will appreciate you offering this up to Him, especially if you do it as an act of love.
But even those of us whose work is basically enjoyable frequently find some things we do during the day annoying. Again, those parts of our work - the tasks we we don't like to do - can be offered up to Our Lord too, especially when we offer them up with love.
I like my work, but I don't like everything about my work. A good part of what I do requires attention to detail. While I prefer focusing on the big picture, details make up that big picture, so they're very important. Paying attention to those details, understanding the interactions between the facts, figures, trends helps me understand the big picture.
But there are other kinds of details I don't like. Accurate record-keeping can drive me crazy. A good example is bookkeeping. Since I run a small business, I have to spend a certain amount of my time bookkeeping, or at least supervising and checking the accuracy of the books.
We probably all have things we don't like about our work, even when we basically really like the work we're doing. Here's a suggestion: Identify the things you don't like and make up your mind to change the way you do them.
First, don't procrastinate when you have to do some annoying or unnerving task. Do it right away. And when you do it, offer your promptness up to Our Lord.
Second, as you're doing your work, instead of focusing on the fact that it's annoying, unnerving, distasteful, or whatever, focus on doing it really, REALLY well. Maybe you can even think of Jesus, the Creator of the Universe, the Son of God, your Lord and Savior who humbled Himself to live here with us and worked just like we work. Think of Him being directed by St Joseph and - from time to time - having to do little tasks that He might not have chosen to do. Maybe He had to stop what He was doing - some act of cabinet-making He really enjoyed - and deal with a demanding customer who was being unreasonable. (Don't get me started on customers who are unreasonable!) I don't think He would have complained or been grumpy with Our Lady and St Joseph at the end of the day, do you?
So, figure out what you don't like and the next time it comes up, grab the chance to do it well and do it with love. Our Lord - whose terrible Passion and Death we recently observed - will acknowledge and appreciate your act of love, offered to Him in the midst of difficult circumstances.
And if you find it hard to not only offer up the work you don't like and do it with love, just think about His Passion and Death and how He offered Himself up for all of us. It should put your offering in perspective. At least it helps me to stop focusing on what I don't like about certain aspects of my work.
One more thing: The Easter Season - a time of joy - doesn't necessarily make our "unloved" work any more lovable. But don't let your celebration of Easter be derailed by that work that drives us crazy. So not only can we offer up that unpleasant work, how about we go the extra mile during Easter and do so cheerfully?
Maybe it will help if you remind yourself:
Christ is indeed risen! Happy Easter!
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