What kind of lunatic loves to work? As you might suspect, I do. I love to work because I understand its purpose, its meaning, and the intrinsic value it creates in me. We rarely speak of loving our work; quite often we speak to the contrary. Perhaps it’s because we don’t know the true power of love. When one speaks of love, quite often it is regards to an emotional feeling and romance. The least understood and profound human motivator; easily spoken but enigmatically defined, love has been a hot topic throughout history. But love is much more than we are capable of comprehending, or at least what we commonly attribute to it. Much more than an emotion, love is an active command verb, like run or go. While on a basic level love satisfies our earliest needs for nurturing, care, protection, stimulation and social contact, its real power lies in what it makes us capable of doing. Scientists have shown that emotional fondness for something can increase our abilities. Heightening of neurotransmitters Norepinephrine (adrenaline) and Phenylethylamine released during ‘loving’ situations focus attention, create feelings of euphoria, increase alertness, focus mental recall, and most interesting of all, when taken away can trigger depression. Scientifically speaking, love increases our abilities which makes us better workers. Therefore, It makes sense to love your work. .
I had the pleasure of being a corporate tycoon media mogul’s chef as part of my career. Wonderful work if you can find it. The hours were great and the compensation was generous, especially when compared to my compadres in the restaurant side of the business. It certainly allowed me the ability to provide for and tend to, my family. I worked with an enthusiastic crew, and within the confines of a bizarre framework, was allowed to be creative; I was stimulated and enjoyed social interactions with my staff. The corporate structure however was a bit lacking when it came to nurturing, care and protection. We often called ourselves a family business; one might have argued whether it was functional though.. No matter, the pay was good, I for the longest time believed I had found the perfect job, the one I loved. It wasn’t until one day, a few months after witnessing my boss being delivered the bad news by her lawyers that she was going to jail over an insider trade she had made on the tip from one of her billionaire cronies, which only amounted to the savings she would have incurred if she stopped taking her dogs to the spa for a month, while serving her her egg white omelette for breakfast, that I came face to face with the fact that if my boss went to jail, my job would cease to exist as I knew it. Translation; downsizing. I didn’t know exactly how I would handle it until the day came. I assumed I would be scared and upset. To tell you the truth the day came and I was surprised. I never dwelt on the fact of the inevitability of it; I still loved going to work and working with the people I did. So a few months later when I got a call to report to “the green room” (oddly enough they chose to let people go in the hospitality room of the television studio. Oh, and it was Valentine’s Day-nice touch), I wasn’t heartbroken, because it wasn’t emotional. Sure the job satisfied me and some of my basic needs, but not all, and rationally I knew it was time to move on.
“Chef,” they said, “we will be cutting back on productions, and as such will no longer be needing your position.”
“OK, “ I said with a little less sadness in my voice than they expected.
“We’re letting you go.” they continued.
“I know”, I might have been smiling at this point. Remember, it was Valentine's Day...no work tomorrow...I could actually sleep in with my wife. I smiled a little more.
“Don’t you understand ? We’re letting you go. TODAY.” They actually seemed a little miffed I wasn’t upset.
“Sure I do. But do you?” I questioned.
“What do you mean?” As if this was the only thing going on this week.
“Well,” I started, “Taping today, tomorrow, the next...guests in house, that sort of stuff...you know...producing a tv show?” We’ll need food for that. Silence.
“OK then!” I popped up from my chair, my hand extended, “it’s been fun, thanks.” greeted by disbelieving limp hands I bade my farewell and left the room. I did actually feel bad, my crew was left holding the bag, a man down as it were. And it was a busy week on top of it all. Don’t worry, they did fine, I had a great crew, that’s why I loved working there. It’s not like I was indispensable.
Ultimately, I left satisfied, knowing that a relationship ended and I knew it was time to go. I loved my job (past tense). Now it was time to court someone else, lucky gal.
Loving one's job is similar to properly loving another person, it requires mutual fulfillment. I can guarantee you a good job worthy of loving is not just about the money. Money quite often is the top reason for accepting a job, but infrequently makes it even into the top 10 when it comes to reasons for leaving, those spots are filled by needs for acceptance, being acknowledged, convivial atmosphere, and sometimes growing apathy. Understanding one's own true need to be nurtured, cared for, protected, stimulated, and engaged socially is a prerequisite to beginning a successful relationship, especially with your job. When those things aren’t there, it is easy to separate yourself and end the relationship, or worse carry on in a dysfunctional way.
As anyone in a successful long term relationship can tell you, you have to work at it. The trouble with emotional-centric love is that confining love to an emotional state will lead to sorrow; as the nature of emotions is temporal. This in-the-moment thinking leads to a falling away when the initial blood rush inevitably ebbs away. In order to make love lasting, love needs to be understood fully as a determined action. Love is a willful act, directed proactively towards the relationship and not just passive feelings we feel when acted upon. Understanding love as more than emotion and as a willful drive towards creating within ourselves love, will allow us to manifest true love’s super-abilities not only in our personal relationships, but further to our work relationship. Which ultimately enables us to truly love our work and create in return the benefits of successful work, providing us with needed fulfillment.. Admittedly, I love my work. I loved all the work I’ve done in all my jobs. But I’m not a masochist; I know when it’s not a reciprocated relationship and when it’s time to move along. So, love what you do; know it intimately, be passionate about it and commit to it. Short of that you may romanticize the relationship, even be infatuated with it, or care for it deeply, but consummate love embodies all three of these attributes and builds well rounded love in your relationships, including your work. Confucius once said, “Choose a job you love and you will never work a day in your life.” I’ll go ahead and take it one step further, Love the job you choose and you will never work a day in your life.
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