Meaningful Work
I believe that meaningful work means doing a job that fulfills what you want to achieve. This may be in the form of money or prestige or simply self-satisfaction. It should be the easiest way to get to where you want to be.
Most people view their jobs as terrible, hard or boring tasks that need to be done just to survive. I, however, would rather look at work as something to enjoy while making sure I get something I want in return.
Hating one’s job seems to be a public consensus. Very few appreciate their work. Calvin, in the comic series, Calvin and Hobbes, is popular for saying “It’s only work if somebody makes you do it.”
Most people look at their jobs as stressful because of the pressure that goes with it: deadlines, hard-to-please employers and waking up early after sleeping late the night before. If we really think about it, it is not any different from school. At least in a job, you get paid not just a grade.
People would rather avoid work because of the pressure. However, stress management is something we all can learn because “stress is a response to pressure.” (What Is Work) To handle pressure, we must learn how to balance work and life instead of letting it rule our lives.
Sir James M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, once said “nothing is really work unless you would rather do something else” but I believe that to achieve great things, we need to change our view of work.
In the book, “The Lazy Way To Success – How To Do Nothing And Accomplish Everything,” the author, Fred Gratzon, believes that the “basis of success is not hard work. The basis of success is doing less.” (25) What he meant was that by thinking clearly of how to solve our problems (money, most of the time), we can find solutions that do not necessarily take our happiness away. Gratzon believes that if you put the problem in its correct perspective, you can think of easier ways to get what you want less anxiety and effort.
Gratzon is right. Work, I believe is important to achieve what I want or need. It may be money or prestige or happiness. Whatever my goals would be in the future will determine my chosen jobs someday. Realistically, I know I can’t always get the job I want but I believe that I can choose the right attitude and do what I need to do to get what I want. Work is not a pain but a means for me to gain. Work is the way to put meaning in my life.
Works Cited
“What Is Work Related Stress?” workstress.net. 2006 http://www.workstress.net/whatis.htm.
Gratzon, Fred. The Lazy Way To Success – How To Do Nothing And Accomplish Everything. Iowa: Soma Press, 2002.
