The greatest job pays nothing at all

We all go to work every day - the routine looks the same. For me back in the day,

I'd take the same commute through the same traffic, sit in the same cubicle with the same coworkers with the same lame jokes. I'd put in my time, then do battle with traffic, and come home exhausted to my children who wanted to play. All too often, I had nothing left for them. What a tragedy that was.

Now, the routine is different. As a home inspector, I follow Siri to wherever she takes me. Different door, same procedure. Different buyers. Same drainage issues. Same roof issues. Same furnace issues. Sometimes I rattle off my paragraphs without even thinking about them. It's like being a dentist in a way - you never get promoted and your job description never changes. The stuff you do on day 1 of your job is much like what you do the day before retirement. When I let it be that routine, it can be very monotonous.

There has to be more to life than this, right? What if life could be fulfilling? What if you could come home energized instead of exhausted?

I'm reading in Alma 30 today. Alma is the prophet and chief judge of his people, the Nephites. He is accused of getting rich because of his position as the earthly leader of the church. His response to the accusation is in Alma 30:33-34. "And notwithstanding the many labors which I have performed in the church, I have never received so much as even one senine (call it a dollar) for my labor... 34 And now, believest thou that we deceive this people, that causes such joy in their hearts?"

I dare say that as he was able to guide people toward happiness, it caused joy in his heart as well. And this is why he did it. The best things in life are not only free, but we don't get paid for them either.

But what if I can't just leave my job and go be a missionary for Christ? Does that mean I'm consigned to this misery we call life's routine? The answer that I see is beautiful: we can all do it, regardless of who we are or what we do. I can live to serve. On my commutes to wherever, I can use the time to fill my soul with stuff that I know will lift me. Then when I'm wherever I go, I can lift others and further fill my soul. In my cubicle, I could grumble about my office and be surly to those who I see, or I could take any available opportunity to lift & serve those who come to me - not just to provide the answers, but lift others.

Had I done that back in the day, I might have had more energy for my daughters. This is something that will haunt me until the day I die.

Nonetheless, here I am, and I find that when I really serve - not just do what I

gotta do for the money - it lifts me. I come home more energized than I started, and it gives meaning to my life.

In Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams mentioned something like "poetry isn't what you do as a living, it's why you live". That was rather deep and it was something I remembered. Service is in the same category. When what we really do has no price, the rewards are priceless. May we seek for that.




#Alma30:34
#Service
#bestjobs