A vivid memory I have from my childhood is the time I realized I was actually grateful for work. My Sunday school class was merged with the older kids in Youth Group one Sunday because my Sunday school teacher was out of town. The man who taught the combined youth group spoke about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the punishment of sin, and the resulting curse resulting in hard toil (amongst more grave things). He jovially asked the classroom “Who would like it if they never had to work another day in their life?” Every one but me raised their hand. I was about 10 or so at the time.
I’ve looked back on that memory often quizzically. Why would I not choose the work-free life? Part of me was probably trying to be different, but I also really meant it and took the question seriously. That memory is seared in my mind because it was such a potent memory of how even as a child I realized there is benefit to the creativity, challenge, and accomplishment of hard work. At that time in my childhood, “work” included cleaning out the cow stalls in the barn and dumping the wheel barrow out in the compost pit, digging up thistles in the pasture, raking leaves, picking up walnuts, hauling hay bales, doing household and animal chores, volunteering with 4-H community projects, etc. Of course, I had the benefit of doing those things with my sisters, so I had good company in the process.
I’m grateful that my parents instilled in me an appreciation for work. Back then I never took too much pleasure in any of those chores, but at the same time I at least had a notion of the value in work. Even more than that, I hate the feeling of being lazy and putting things off until a situation gets bad enough that it requires even more work than it would’ve had it been addressed initially. Hard work became a habit to me, and now I can find enjoyment in work.
Work is tough, but being lazy is tougher in the long run.
The topic of work enjoyment is one of my favorites because if you can learn to find enjoyment in work, boy you can really fly. I say “find enjoyment in work” instead of “enjoy work” for a very specific reason. The joy in work is never a constant; it comes and it goes. But if you can cultivate the times that you do enjoy work, you will find that you can sustain and persevere.
Many of my most treasured memories are from experiencing life with other people through work. My life has been filled to the brim with wonderful stories to recall (I write them down for later entertainment), and many have been through the trials and triumphs of work. I’ve never had a job that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy some aspect of. Of course, every job also has it’s unique negative aspects. If you think the grass is greener on the other side, you’ll switch jobs and discover a different set of challenges, so make your risk-benefit calculations carefully. I’ve had 16 payed jobs since I was 18. Mind you, a lot of that was seasonal work (check out coolworks.com for amazing adventure jobs). I’m 24 now. Throughout the years I’ve made a list of the very top things I look for in a job that I’ll get to here shortly.
Have some life goals that you take seriously because then you will have a better reason and motivation for why you work. Some of my financial goals throughout the years have ranged from being able to earn enough money to buy more pet reptiles (ha!), to saving up a nest egg for marriage, to saving up for a house, and now saving up to be able to provide a good life for kids (Lord willing) and have enough to live generously. Sort of the Dave Ramsey take on things, I guess. There was a time when I worked three jobs seven days a week without a day off for month-long stretches. That sounds pretty crazy to most people these days, but my husband and I had a goal of where we wanted to be.
It is hard to fail; but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In this life we get nothing save by effort. Freedom from effort in the present, merely means that there has been stored-up effort in the past.
Theodore Roosevelt, Chicago Speech 1899
As an adult, saving money is every bit as important as earning it. You need to have control over finances so that money doesn’t have control over you. Your goals may not be as far out of reach as you may think. And when the day comes that you finally reach your goal, it will feel even better than you had even imagined all awhile. It’s worth sacrificing your short-term gratification to reach more fulfilling long-term goals.
The job title doesn’t matter so much as what the work environment is.
A paying job is a small piece of your overall “life’s work” because some of the most important work you will ever do is unpaid. Therefore, it is important to find enjoyment and honest pride in the product of your life’s work as a whole.
I don’t think you can count on a job or career to make you happy. You could have your ultimate dream job and still find it dissatisfying if you are around negative people or you don’t thrive there like you pictured you would. Find a job, do your best, and make an effort to bring out the enjoyment in your work. There are ways that will increase your likelihood that you will be happy at a certain job, but you also have to do your part to approach every day with a good mindset.
Even in little tasks, do your best. Even when no one will notice, do your best. If you have ordinary tasks, do an extraordinary job of it and you will carry those habits to better things.
Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
Luke 16:10, NIV
Compile your own list of things that are important to you in a job. You may agree with my list here:
- To me, comradery is EVERYTHING. I’ve made up my mind several times over in every job I’ve had that I can do just about anything with good company. I am most motivated by my companions. I can’t tolerate an unhealthy workplace for long even if I were to have my “dream job”.
- Diversity of tasks to keep things interesting
- Positively impact peoples’ lives
- Work for bosses who are enthusiastic about what they do. If your bosses are enthusiastic about what they do, that will rub off on you and you will learn more because they too are trying to improve constantly.
- Ability to learn and improve continually.
- Be known as one of the best in the trade/business, and love the results of your work. This is a haughty goal, but one that’s worth at least striving towards.
- Outdoors if possible, but all other preferences override this one.
For more job advice, read my blog titled First Job Advice for Teens.
The Bible has so many concise, potent truths about work, especially in Proverbs (probably my favorite book of the Bible).
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
Proverbs 6:6-11, NIV
When will you get up from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.
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