What is your passion?
Do you have something you're passionate about? Are you passionate about your work?
We spend anywhere between 35 and 60 hours per week at work. Many of us do it for at least 40 years. Do you walk away at the end of the day just having loved your day? Do you wake up in the morning just raring to go - ready to jump into your working day?
I'm not sure I can answer yes to any of the questions I've just posed. I certainly have things that are important to me but am I passionate about them? Not if being passionate requires an open display of commitment that says to everyone "this is what I am about". On many levels the people that have known me the longest will tell you it's really hard to know what I am about. I share but on a deeper level I am a very private person. Those of you that read this blog have probably seen more of "me" than my family.
On the work front, and thinking about this is what has resulted in this blog entry, I do not dislike what I do, in fact I quite like it but I'm not passionate about it. Don't get me wrong... I love the people I work with (well, mostly), I like my boss, I think we do good things but does it make me feel good, does it make me feel like I'm serving a higher purpose that supporting the comfortable lifestyle I have grown accustomed to? The answer quite simply is... no.
For years I've been able to justify the balance between work and family - working to live vs living to work but somehow it doesn't seem enough anymore. I don't want to further sacrifice the amount of time and energy I have for my family but I feel like I need to do something "more"
I have no idea what that "more" could be. I want to know that I've made a difference. That somehow my contribution has made someones life better or opened possibilities for them in a way that maybe they couldn't achieve for themselves. A minute example of what I'm trying to articulate here... from the day my daughter was born I read to her. Every night without fail. As she grew she copied my words, then she memorized simple books, and then the wonder of wonders, she was reading. The sense of overwhelming joy to see her tap into the world of words is the sense that I would like to bring to my work. To know that in a small way, through an action as simple as reading to someone, I've made a difference. Today Ms 7 reads at a grade 6 level, she's articulate and she's curious. I can't take all the credit but I know that I helped start her on her journey of lifelong learning and reading for pleasure... and that feels good.
Quite frankly I don't know what I want to be when I grow up any more. All that was clear as a freshman has since become very murky. Priorities change. Perspectives change. I have changed.
I think it's time for me to explore this a little further. I still have many working years ahead of me. Many years to contribute to my family and my community. I would like to find a way that I can do that and along the way find a passion that would allow me to bring to life whatever my "more" is.
We spend anywhere between 35 and 60 hours per week at work. Many of us do it for at least 40 years. Do you walk away at the end of the day just having loved your day? Do you wake up in the morning just raring to go - ready to jump into your working day?
I'm not sure I can answer yes to any of the questions I've just posed. I certainly have things that are important to me but am I passionate about them? Not if being passionate requires an open display of commitment that says to everyone "this is what I am about". On many levels the people that have known me the longest will tell you it's really hard to know what I am about. I share but on a deeper level I am a very private person. Those of you that read this blog have probably seen more of "me" than my family.
On the work front, and thinking about this is what has resulted in this blog entry, I do not dislike what I do, in fact I quite like it but I'm not passionate about it. Don't get me wrong... I love the people I work with (well, mostly), I like my boss, I think we do good things but does it make me feel good, does it make me feel like I'm serving a higher purpose that supporting the comfortable lifestyle I have grown accustomed to? The answer quite simply is... no.
For years I've been able to justify the balance between work and family - working to live vs living to work but somehow it doesn't seem enough anymore. I don't want to further sacrifice the amount of time and energy I have for my family but I feel like I need to do something "more"
I have no idea what that "more" could be. I want to know that I've made a difference. That somehow my contribution has made someones life better or opened possibilities for them in a way that maybe they couldn't achieve for themselves. A minute example of what I'm trying to articulate here... from the day my daughter was born I read to her. Every night without fail. As she grew she copied my words, then she memorized simple books, and then the wonder of wonders, she was reading. The sense of overwhelming joy to see her tap into the world of words is the sense that I would like to bring to my work. To know that in a small way, through an action as simple as reading to someone, I've made a difference. Today Ms 7 reads at a grade 6 level, she's articulate and she's curious. I can't take all the credit but I know that I helped start her on her journey of lifelong learning and reading for pleasure... and that feels good.
Quite frankly I don't know what I want to be when I grow up any more. All that was clear as a freshman has since become very murky. Priorities change. Perspectives change. I have changed.
I think it's time for me to explore this a little further. I still have many working years ahead of me. Many years to contribute to my family and my community. I would like to find a way that I can do that and along the way find a passion that would allow me to bring to life whatever my "more" is.
posted by Aussieabroad at
2:50 PM
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