We had a guest speaker at church this past weekend. Jonathon Acuff, author of Quitter and an extremely funny guy. He spoke about how this generation is the "I'm/But" Generation. For example, "I'm a teacher, but I want to be an artist." This was so interesting to me because I find that a lot of my friends, including Garth and I are stuck in this phase.
I'm an administrator of a great company. I love the people I work with and enjoy what I do. I know I'm needed and feel appreciated. BUT I would love to write a book and become a published author. Also, I do not feel called to be a marriage counselor, but I have a passion for marriage counseling and look forward to becoming a marriage mentor at our church. Do I love what I do? Not really. But I don't dread it or hate it. I actually enjoy being needed. I would be content doing it for the rest of my life.
And then I got to thinking...do you really love what you do? Do you think the saying "do what you love and you will never work a day in your life" is true or hogwash?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
I would say I was stuck in the "I'm/But" phase from high school, through college, and then in my career until I became a stay-at-home mommy. Now I am SO fulfilled and happy! I get to do ALL the things I love in small doses so I never get bored: be the head chef & meal planner, CFO, party planner, travel agent, baby stylist, photographer and landscape artist for my little slice of heaven...and I blog about all of it, rounding out my life-long passion for writing :)
For me, I realized I didn't need to go out looking for something to make my life meaningful - God had already given it to me :)
I love what I do. In my previous role as an insurance underwriter for an insurance company, i was definitely "I'm/but", in my current role I honestly can't believe I get paid to do some of the things I get to do. It is so fulfilling, especially since it is a ministry type role. It's a job that is worth getting out of bed for and one that I am blessed to have. (-:
~Kathryn
I certainly don't HATE my job, but it is a job. I definitely don't feel like it's my calling so hopefully one day God will reveal that to me. Even if it's not in my every day job, a fulfilling hobby would be incrediblie!
I love the field I'm in but I don't currently love my job. To me though, if I'm not with my husband, family and friends, even with a job I love, I think it would feel like work.
I think that we are the I'm/But Generation but I don't think the prior generations were necessarily more satisfied with their jobs. They were farmers and factory workers working long, backbreaking hours just to put food on the table. They didn't have time to be think "am I happy?" -- they had to focus on making ends meet. The stories my grandma tells me about working during the great depression and WWII blow my mind. Makes me see how entitled and selfish me and my generation is.
Final thought -- happiness doesn't come from a job -- it comes from within and from God. People who think their dream job is gonna meet their needs are wrong. It's in the same vein as girls thinking if they can just be married they will be happy.
OK off my soapbox!
I like my job but it is not something I intend on doing forever. Hopefully one day I'll be able to find my path.
we were just talking about this last night in my life group! this is how I feel :( maybe I should get that book!
Thanks for the post - just bought the book! This is so me - has been most of my life and I'm finally going to be a "quitter" this summer, Lord willing. Thats why this post is such great timing. I work at a bank but I am going to quit while my husband is deployed and focus on starting my photography and design business. It's crazy and scary to think about but I'm really excited!
ETA: I deleted this at first because I re-read it and it sounded like I was going to go behind my husband's back and do this just because he was deploying. Not the case - he is fully supportive. I am just going to use the time to focus on what I want to do while he is gone so I won't be bored out of my mind at a job I hate and missing him like crazy too!
Post a Comment