Guilty Expression :: Rants and raves inspired by a passionate, frustrated love for God.

Life - Work (Score: 1)
by Midge (-) on Mar 12, 2006 - 02:36 PM

I read an article once which complained about how we think it's so important to know what people do for a living (someone asked the author at a party 'What do you do?' and he said 'I'm a writer'. 'No � what drugs do you do?' Easy mistake to make.)

But in our society I think our work defines so much of our lifestyle that we can't escape from its effects on who we are. It means that people have to go and live where they don't want to, then sit in cars and trains for hours every day. It determines how we spend the best part of our energy and time, and what kind of people we spend it with. And if God put us here for a purpose, then the way we use our time and energy makes up who we are, in a sense.

You realise how much a part of your identity it is, when you answer 'I'm unemployed'. People need to know what you 'were' or 'will be' so they can understand you, and being 'nothing' makes you feel pointless. So it's not surprising that choosing a career seems like such a deadly serious business. It means choosing your life, your identity.

I think it's significant that the best-selling job-hunting book, 'What color is your parachute?', is written by a Christian, who sees it as his calling to help other people find their Mission in life, their Purpose for being on earth. And he says most of the other leading careers guidance people were motivated by their belief in God.

One big thing in his book is that we need to decide what we enjoy doing, work out how that can be used in a job, and then look for someone who'll take us on - instead of keeping our options open so we can squeeze ourselves into the jobs that are advertised. Apparently that's a much more successful approach to getting a job, let alone getting the job you want, and it sounds like it defines your work by your life/personality rather than the other way round.

~Wave~ do you feel you're losing your true identity through your work? What do you feel you're sacrificing? Just your spare time, or your morals, or what?