Wednesday, September 05, 2007

All In A Day's Work


If you marry the one you love, you'll never be tempted.

If you put your trust in God, you'll never doubt your faith.

If you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life.

Well, for some people maybe. For the rest of us there's this matter of discipline. Of doing things and doing them well even when we don't feel like it. Of knowing what's required in our work and then going well beyond it, consistently. And sometimes the discipline not to work.

I didn't work on Labor Day. I was unplugged out in the middle of nowhere. I hope you didn't either. Not because you don't love your job, but because you do. It's not much of a holiday if you do the same kinds of things anyway now is it?

Some people take special satisfaction in getting in an "extra" day, or hour, or e-mail. They get so accustomed to making sacrifices and even compromises, especially about work, that they don't even realize they are. They tell themselves, "I'm not really working..." Particularly when you really do enjoy your work, and you can take it all the way to the bank, it's an easy trap to fall into.

But you know when you have a baseball in one hand and a cell phone in the other. You'll love your job even more if you don't refuse to unplug from time to time, especially on Labor Day. And btw, the one you're throwing the ball with will appreciate it too.