So this year has been hard. There has been a lot of change and transition in my life. Lots of stress. Lots of "stuff" that my family has had to work through. We've had lots of health issues. The birth of my daughter was the ending of one season and the starting of a new one...on so many levels. I have been realizing lately that this year has taken a toll on me.
Yesterday I was in a funk. Actually, I have been in a funk for a while, but I was pretty "funked" yesterday. I had a long day and by 4 pm I realized I still had a full evening ahead of me. I had two meetings...one at 6 and another at 7:30. The first was a team of creative people I work with to plan. The second was a board meeting...kind of the "human resources" arm of my job.
Much to my shock, rather than being drained by these two meetings, I got new passion. I can't describe how these people...not really the tasks...just breathed new life into me. The first group is a great group of folks...many have been on the team for years. We kid and joke with each other. But I get the sense we would all do pretty much anything for each other. The second is a group that changes annually: this was the first meeting of the year, but I know them all. I was just struck by the maturity of the group.
When I got home, my wife saw a marked difference in my countenance. And she said the words I was thinking, but couldn't articulate, "It feels good to remember you are not alone in this, doesn't it?"
And then it dawned on me...
Most days, I really do I like what I do. But I really love the people I'm doing it with. Yea, we are all broken and sometimes we get on each other's nerves, but I get to do what I love, with people I love. And there is nothing better. And this morning, I'm grateful.
In a perfect world we will all have both great work and great community. Meaningful work allows you to make a contribution (part of what I believe it means for us to be made in the image of God), but commnity is what makes the contribution worthwhile.
Which is harder for you? Doing work you don't enjoy or doing it with people you don't enjoy? If you had to pick...which would you sacrifice? And what does that say about you or what you value?
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4 comments:
i was talking the other night about just how ready i was for that stupid ball to drop, and quickly usher 2004 into the past. it seems you may have felt the same.
during my summers in college, i worked in a factory. i didn't work on the packing lines, the staining department, or in milling. no, i worked in the "auxiliary department"... which is a nice way of saying i cleaned toilets, bathrooms, and lunchrooms for eight hours a day. lots of buildings, with seven or eight auxiliary folks each shift. unless someone was on vacation, i floated around and helped a different person every week.
i didn't mind the cleaning, honestly. rather, the most important variables to me were, 'what building am i working in today [i.e., do these factory workers appreciate me keeping their work areas clean?]', and 'who am i working beside today [i.e., i cannot escape this auxiliary person so i hope they're fun to be around]'.
i could be handling finances for the greatest philharmonic in the world, and yet be completely unhappy if i despised my co-workers. on the other hand, i could clean nasty toilets with the greatest people in the world, and find contentment in that.
oops. that was me up there.
mdog
I prefer to do work I don't enjoy with people I can't stand. It builds character! Okay, just kidding.
Funny, I had a meeting last night that really energized me too! It actaully kind of scared me because I'm at a point in my life where making committments (to work or to people) is difficult for me, but those committments or challenges (and the people I make them with) are what really energize me. It's also why I sometimes end up being overcommitted to the point that I can't build relationships with the people I wanted so much to work with.
If I really had to pick, I'd rather dig ditches or clean toilets with the people I met with last night. They don't smell that great anyway. ;-)
I would rather do work that I dislike with people that I like. Rather, with people that energize me. I have worked with people that I like, and it is not the same as working with people who understand and can react "appropriately" to who I am. Similarly, I need to be able to energize them. If we are not on the same wavelength, work becomes difficult regardless. In fact, I would describe the above situation as being my ideal job. What I do does not matter as much as what is being accomplished relationally. Everything else will burn in the end. Even perfectly scrubbed toilets.
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