My daughters, Please don’t work one day.

My dear daughters,


Afraid of loss afraid of gain

Don’t lose yourself don’t lose the game

Do you wait for life to show you gains

Do you blame life for being the same

Life comes with loss and comes with gain

It’s only worth your time

If you save these lessons in your brain

Remember the past, what life has taught you

Live in the moment, the beauty, what’s true

Hope for tomorrow and patiently wait

For life will surprise and show you your fate


As I watch you grow I realize the beauty of your developing mind. Your fascination with the common rivals that of an alien discovering the human race. The slightest artifact can hold your attention, captivate your imagination and deserve a safe location in your tote bag. An irrelevant piece of glass covered in dirt becomes a wondrous treasure found in the yard. In your opinion, every earthworm deserves a name. As far as you are concerned the weather forecast doesn’t matter, only whether or not you are dancing in the rain. Adding rainwater to dirt makes clay to mold in your hands. IMG_4660Money holds no regard, for the only thing you would buy is what is already free, your imagination. You absorb stories made up on the spot. You crave the surprise held tight in my fist. You desire the feeling of wind in your hair. When you become part of a pendulum swinging from a tree, the shrieks and shrills of swinging higher is a pleasure to share.

……………….

A time will come when the magic may fade. There comes a shift from leaving your world of imagination to reality. The world of endless pleasures and self driven discovery of treasures will become a world filled with goals and tasks, deadlines and pseudonyms. You will be told to shape up or slip out, sit right and act right, adhere to the rules and obey the facts. To question is to hinder the ideal of the establishment.

As you grow and learn, these fantasies and ideas start to dissolve. They get lost in the humdrum of life. You will face a constant battle to follow your nose or to put it to the grindstone for another. Your work becomes less driven by intrinsic discovery but instead external reward. The feeling of freedom will fade into the past.

……………….

When you are faced with life pressuring you, even gripping you at the throat, demanding your time, remember the days you were young. Remember those times your activities consumed you, when you were in full engagement and following your curiosity gave you happiness.

………………..

Learn again to live in the moment, rediscover the happiness of your childhood delight, explore the world around you as if it was new to you and ever-changing, and don’t forget to make those moments count. Savor those special moments. Take in the beauty of each moment. If you are in awe at a sunset, a sprouting plant, a child’s innocence, capture the moment in your phone and your memory. Moments shared. Moments documented in history. You still have to take the time to study, read and research, but even that can be rewarding. If you are studying or researching your passion, those moments spent cruising the information highway will give intrinsic value.

This is what is meant by; If you love the work you do it won’t seem like work at all. Too many people today find that they don’t enjoy the kind of work that they do. There are many reasons, but among them is the perceived need to earn a paycheck. If you derive happiness from spending money, well, in that case it seems fair. Hate what you do in order to get paid so that you can enjoy spending that hard-earned income. This is fine but you will miss out on so much more value in life. Life happens for us not to us. Unfortunately the happiness derived from spending money is short-lived, that is why you quickly move on to the next purchase. Have you ever notice a child plays with their birthday gift a few seconds?

We do not live to work or work to live. Instead, I think it may be much more fruitful to get paid to live. If your life and what you love to do comes with the benefit of a paycheck, so much more the better. Compared to the person who hates work to get paid to be happy to spend, instead, love to work and make money at the same time.

Finding value in your work will give a much more long-lasting happiness. This is the difference between intrinsic reward and extrinsic reward. Intrinsic is long-lasting, it provides meaning to you and to others. Extrinsic reward is short-lived, it provides false motivation, it encourages enslavement. Slave after that which you enjoy to do and in turn you will provide meaning to life.

So figure out how you can get paid for what you love to do. Once you figure this puzzle out, the rest will be history. Over are the days of slaving after a paycheck. Welcome new days, the new you, who can’t wait to get out of bed to start your work, because your work is just that rewarding.

Work = meaning = happiness

It’s okay to try several different jobs in a lifetime, after all, how would you know what you would enjoy if you don’t try it. Start by thinking what it is that you enjoy to do, and how you can incorporate this activity in such a way to bring meaning to others. It is through this meaning, that others will end up paying you to continue to provide more meaning.

 

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