[notice] A fortnightly column by Anna Heydenrych[/notice]
A girlfriend and I are always lamenting the fact that we have not yet managed to secure ourselves job positions where we are paid to sit around all day at coffee shops chatting and thinking up ideas. We love sitting around at coffee shops thinking up ideas.
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It is a most happy and wonderful thing if you can find a career where you have the opportunity to do what you love. When I am engaged in something that I love, I come alive. It is like a spark goes off and sets alight my vision and passion and reminds me of what I was born for! When I am doing what I love, I work hard and intently, driven forward with purpose and determination. But I am afraid to say, that what I just described does not reflect my average workday. It is good for a person to do what they love, but perhaps just as important (if not more important) for a person to love what they do.
I have a very special friend who is a nurse. She is an excellent example of someone who is doing what they love. She chose nursing as she has always had a passion for the medical field and a desire to bring healing to those who need it. I did not choose a career in the medical profession as I most decidedly do not love blood and everything that goes with it. And so I can believe that my friend has a special and unique calling to do what she does, one that she has been blessed to be able to make a reality.
Sometimes my friend is driven forward by her passion and purpose, and is fortunate enough to be able to engage in tasks that she loves – like delivering babies! Sometimes though, she has to choose to love what she does. At times when she is faced with challenges in the workplace, or hopeless and painful situations, she has to make a choice to love what she does. I believe that it is this that sets her apart as a nurse, because she is able to fulfil her role and purpose even when there is no spark igniting her vision and passion – and her patients need her to be able to do this! It is at these times that she needs to recall her convictions and to turn to God for her strength.
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When we CHOOSE to love what we do, we are able to continue even when there is no spark. When others witness us loving what we do in the face of challenges (or even just the mundane), they just might think that there is something different about us.
“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” — Colossians 3:23
More good advice. When you have found out how to get paid while sitting around at coffee shops discussing ideas, let me know! I believe HJH is succeeding because the guys are passionate about the service they provide.
Sometimes our passions are like a narrow road running through the have to do’s of life. We are blessed when our passions keep us warm.