Why You MUST Be Happy at Work
Should you be happy at work? Is that so important? I didn't think so once. Now I realize you not only should, but you must be happy at work.
Maybe you're happy with your work. If so, congrats. But as we know, many of us aren't so happy with the work we do. We want a more fulfilling job, need to make more money, have a rotten boss...whatever. If that's the case, you need to understand why you must be happy with your work right now. And even if you're already happy with your work, you should understand why it's so important that your situation must continue into the future.
First, let's get one thing straight. I'm not saying it's important that your job be that "perfect" job you might want. Nor am I saying your work has to be "fulfilling." I'm talking about actually being happy at work, no matter what sort of work you do and no matter whether you have the perfect job, or whether your work is particularly fulfilling. Here's why.
The only way for your soul to flourish - and by flourish I mean that you are growing closer to God every day - is for you to live in an atmosphere of peace and happiness.
If you do any spiritual reading, you'll find that peace and happiness are essential to progress in the spiritual life. (I hope you're spending at least 10 - 15 minutes a day reading and meditating on solid spiritual works. If not, why not start - like today?)
Of course, if you're performing work you really don't like, I'm not going to tell you to just put up with your current situation. If you want to, go ahead and find a better job. But in the interim, it's important to be happy in the work you're doing.
Now, I've got to tell you that I've had some jobs I really didn't like. And at times, I've been pretty much miserable doing certain kinds of work. So if you're in this situation, you've got a sympathetic ear here. I know exactly what you're going through. All I can say is that I wish I had understood then what we're talking about today. I wish I realized how critically important it is to work in an atmosphere of peace and happiness.
Think I'm being unrealistic about this peace and happiness at work stuff? Well, consider this. Our focus each and every day should be to grow closer to God. You know that, right? Now figure out how much time you spend working. What is it, 8 - 10 hours a day, 5 days a week? Maybe more? Even if it's "only" 8 hours a day, that's at least half the time you're awake every day. Just do the math. Some of us spend as much 65% (sometimes even more!) of our waking hours each day during the week working. And if you bring work home to do at night or even on weekends, you can get close to half your waking hours (or more) working in any given week.
If an atmosphere of peace and happiness is essential to making progress in your spiritual life, and less than half your waking hours are spent in an atmosphere of peace and happiness. how close to you think you're going to be able to get to God each day? And we haven't even addressed whether your time spent outside of work is spent in an atmosphere of peace and happiness. How the heck are you going to grow closer to God if less than half your waking hours - maybe far less than half your waking hours - is spent in an atmosphere of peace and happiness?
So how do you create an atmosphere of peace and happiness? We're out of time today to address that. In fact, I'm not sure I can rattle off something like "The Three Things You Can Do Today To Create an Atmosphere of Peace and Happiness" even if we had the time. (Maybe I can come up with something like this in the future?) But why not try that 10 - 15 minutes per day reading good spiritual works. I'm sure you'll be able to make a good start if you do. And if you're already reading good spiritual works 10 - 15 minutes each day, then pay closer attention to what you're reading and pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit.
Make sense?
Maybe you're happy with your work. If so, congrats. But as we know, many of us aren't so happy with the work we do. We want a more fulfilling job, need to make more money, have a rotten boss...whatever. If that's the case, you need to understand why you must be happy with your work right now. And even if you're already happy with your work, you should understand why it's so important that your situation must continue into the future.
First, let's get one thing straight. I'm not saying it's important that your job be that "perfect" job you might want. Nor am I saying your work has to be "fulfilling." I'm talking about actually being happy at work, no matter what sort of work you do and no matter whether you have the perfect job, or whether your work is particularly fulfilling. Here's why.
The only way for your soul to flourish - and by flourish I mean that you are growing closer to God every day - is for you to live in an atmosphere of peace and happiness.
If you do any spiritual reading, you'll find that peace and happiness are essential to progress in the spiritual life. (I hope you're spending at least 10 - 15 minutes a day reading and meditating on solid spiritual works. If not, why not start - like today?)
Of course, if you're performing work you really don't like, I'm not going to tell you to just put up with your current situation. If you want to, go ahead and find a better job. But in the interim, it's important to be happy in the work you're doing.
Now, I've got to tell you that I've had some jobs I really didn't like. And at times, I've been pretty much miserable doing certain kinds of work. So if you're in this situation, you've got a sympathetic ear here. I know exactly what you're going through. All I can say is that I wish I had understood then what we're talking about today. I wish I realized how critically important it is to work in an atmosphere of peace and happiness.
Think I'm being unrealistic about this peace and happiness at work stuff? Well, consider this. Our focus each and every day should be to grow closer to God. You know that, right? Now figure out how much time you spend working. What is it, 8 - 10 hours a day, 5 days a week? Maybe more? Even if it's "only" 8 hours a day, that's at least half the time you're awake every day. Just do the math. Some of us spend as much 65% (sometimes even more!) of our waking hours each day during the week working. And if you bring work home to do at night or even on weekends, you can get close to half your waking hours (or more) working in any given week.
If an atmosphere of peace and happiness is essential to making progress in your spiritual life, and less than half your waking hours are spent in an atmosphere of peace and happiness. how close to you think you're going to be able to get to God each day? And we haven't even addressed whether your time spent outside of work is spent in an atmosphere of peace and happiness. How the heck are you going to grow closer to God if less than half your waking hours - maybe far less than half your waking hours - is spent in an atmosphere of peace and happiness?
So how do you create an atmosphere of peace and happiness? We're out of time today to address that. In fact, I'm not sure I can rattle off something like "The Three Things You Can Do Today To Create an Atmosphere of Peace and Happiness" even if we had the time. (Maybe I can come up with something like this in the future?) But why not try that 10 - 15 minutes per day reading good spiritual works. I'm sure you'll be able to make a good start if you do. And if you're already reading good spiritual works 10 - 15 minutes each day, then pay closer attention to what you're reading and pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit.
Make sense?
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