Good news about work

I heard the instructor say in my morning meditation at headspace today: “Let’s just face it: most of us have to work anyway. Why not to try to make the most out of it?” His argument is valid. And can be convincing to the most resigned people. However, I wondered, is that the only reason for us to work? Just because it’s something “most of us have to do anyway”? This does not fill my heart.

Last week, I heard something different. A psychologist said in a talk to business people: “The constant micro injections of dopamine we receive whenever we use our screens keep us distracted from the two things that make us happy in life: to care about others and to do our work well“. I was impressed by what she said. Could it be that to do my job well is something that fills my heart, just like caring about the people surrounding me?

Here are the good news about work: Yes!

To do our job well makes us happy. Because it makes us better, more human. The key is the openness to learning. The key is not the outcome, success of failure. The key is if we approach our work as opportunities to learn, to do something better, to become masters of our craft, whatever it might be. Taxi driving, jewelery making, scientific writing… Every work that is adequate to the human nature is an invitation for us to learn and grow.