“The secret of joy in work is contained in one word — excellence. To know
how to do something well is to enjoy it.”—Pearl Buck
***
May 1 is a public holiday in the Philippines. The reason: it is Labor Day, a day when workers all across the country come together to commemorate their hard work and to demand better working conditions and fair wages.
All of us have to work. For God said so: “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground” (Genesis 3:19). Adam, the first man, was given the job to take care of the Garden of Eden. All throughout the Bible, God has commanded man to work. In the Ten Commandments, He said, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work.”
Somebody once said that work is the father of success and integrity is the mother. If you can get along with these two members of the family, the rest of the family will be easy to deal with. However, too many people don’t make enough effort to get along with the father and leave the mother out completely. Some even quit looking for work as soon as they find a job.
I have officially retired from my position as an information officer at a non-governmental organization. Nevertheless, I continue to work, as I adhere to the belief that a journalist’s passion endures. Writing remains a pursuit I cherish.
Walter Hoving advices, “Find a job that’s suited to your talents and then do a lot more work than you’re paid for. In time, you’ll be paid much more for what you do. Workers who get what they can are bound to be disillusioned. Such people fail to make progress simply because they aren’t profitable to the people who hire them.”
I have encountered individuals in various organizations who fulfill only the standard eight-hour workday. Many do not extend their efforts even slightly when additional tasks arise. I know individuals who, as soon as the clock strikes 5 p.m., promptly vacate their work stations without taking the time to tidy up, dismissing it with the remark, “That is the janitor’s responsibility.”
The Laggard’s Excuse confirms the principle that the man who is born the luckiest is the man who doesn’t believe in luck – but in work! The poem goes this way: “He worked by day and toiled by night. He gave up playing and was delighted. Dry books he read, new things to learn and forged ahead, success to earn. He plodded on with faith and pluck. And when he won, men called it luck.”
Luck is always waiting for something to turn up. Work, on the other hand, with keen eyes and strong will, turns up something. Luck lies in bed and wishes the postman would bring him news of an unexpected inheritance. Work springs out of bed in the morning and lays the foundation for success with competence.
In a workplace, there are people who work diligently and there are people who watch other’s jobs thereby placing his work in jeopardy. Elmer G. Leterman was right when he observed, “The average human being in any line of work could double his productive capacity overnight if he began right now to do all the things he knows he should do, and to stop doing all the things he knows he should not do.”
We were not put here on earth to play around. “Life is real; life is earnest,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote. We are not here to “have fun,” which seems to be the chief ambition of everyone. “There is work to be done,” said Alden Palmer. “There are responsibilities to be met. Humanity needs the abilities of every man and woman.”
Now, allow me to share a story to inspire you. I read this somewhere but can’t figure out which publication it was.
For twenty years, he worked in the “trenches” in hospital emergency rooms, only to find himself overwhelmed with a bad case of “burnout.” He describes his work this way: “It was years of screaming, dying, drunks, drug overdose, terminal cancer, and exhaustion.” It was at that time that Dr. Lance Gentile enrolled in the University of Southern California’s film school.
While continuing to save lives on hospital late shifts, he tried his hand at writing a screenplay. State of Emergency was turned into an HBO movie. Then, the offer to be part of the successful popular television show, ER, came. He did not act in the series but part of his job was to monitor story lines to ensure no harm was done to make-believe patients or the show’s credibility. He made sure actors use correct terminology, hold instruments correctly, and have their X-rays right side up.
Gentile’s story reminded me of this statement: “When you do the things you have to do when you have to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them.”
In the Holy Bible, perhaps one of the most often quoted chapters is Psalm 23. Someone has adapted the said chapter with emphasis on work. It reads:
“The Lord is my real boss, and I shall not want. He gives me peace, when chaos is all around me. He gently reminds me to pray and do all things without murmuring and complaining. He reminds me that he is my source and not my job. He restores my sanity every day and guides my decisions that I might honor him in all that I do.
“Even though I face absurd amounts of e-mails, system crashes, unrealistic deadlines, budget cutbacks, gossiping co-workers, discriminating supervisors and an aging body that doesn’t cooperate every morning, I still will not stop – for He is with me! His presence, His peace, and His power will see me through.
“He raises me up, even when they fail to promote me. He claims me as His own, even when the company threatens to let me go. His Faithfulness and love is better than any bonus check. His retirement plan beats every plan there is! When it’s all said and done, I’ll be working for Him a whole lot longer and for that, I bless His name.”
Amen!—
