Yesterday I engaged in a job that I truly enjoy--it's not a simple job, but one that I like doing. Today the job in front of me is one I don't look forward to. It is an emotional, frustrating job that always leaves me sad, smelly, and weak in many ways. Why do I do it? I do it because I know it's the right thing for me to do. I've tried to make it easier and more pleasant via mindshifts, trying out new strategies, and researching the topic, but still I find the job tough.
I bet that most people have jobs in life that they dread--doing the dirty, uncomfortable, laborious jobs are part of landscape for living. In the best of circumstances we reduce the number of those jobs in our lives, but I wouldn't suggest eradicating those tough jobs altogether. In many ways it is the tough jobs that bring us grace, humanity, patience, and a broader outlook on what it means to live the good life.
People who never have to do the tough jobs lack knowing what those jobs entail and that contributes to their potential shallow, superficial, and harmful decision making and outlook. We all have to roll up our sleeves and do the tough jobs now and then--that's valuable for us and those we live and work with. Those tough jobs build a kind of humility that makes us better people.
So today, I'll just do the tough job, and my goal is to not let the weight of the job deterimentally affect the way I do it or the people I work with on the job, before and after. Onward.