<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery man is a consumer, and ought to be a producer. He fails to make his place good in the world unless he not only pays his debt but also adds something to the common wealth\u201d (Ralph Waldo Emerson).<\/p>\n
TECHNICALLY, \u201cWORK\u201d IS SIMPLY TOIL OR LABOR \u2014 IT\u2019S PHYSICAL OR MENTAL EFFORT OR ACTIVITY. But I\u2019d like to suggest that we\u2019d profit from thinking of work in a higher sense. The best concept of work is that which sees it as more than mere labor \u2014 it is labor that adds value<\/em> to the world. When we\u2019re working, we\u2019re adding \u201csomething to the common wealth,\u201d as Emerson put it. We\u2019re repaying our debt to the world, first, by replenishing the resources that we\u2019ve taken out of it and, second, by adding some value that wasn\u2019t there before. The result of our work is that something in the world has been improved in some way. Some worth has been created.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unfortunate that we so often limit the word \u201cwork\u201d to labor we\u2019re paid<\/em> to perform for an employer. When we speak of the \u201cworkplace,\u201d we usually mean the realm of money-paying jobs and careers. But the work that a human being does over the course of his or her lifetime involves a great deal more than that person\u2019s paid occupation. In fact, much, if not most, of the value that gets added to the world is added by the things people do when they\u2019re not \u201cat work,\u201d and we need to quit thinking that the only folks who are working are those who have salaried jobs. (And we certainly need to stop asking stay-at-home mothers why they don\u2019t \u201cwork.\u201d)<\/p>\n Regarding our work, one of the best things we can do is dedicate it to one or more persons whom we love. It\u2019s no coincidence that writers usually dedicate their work to someone; great power comes from having a special someone \u201cfor\u201d whom we\u2019re doing our work. But we don\u2019t have to be a writer to benefit from this power. Whatever work we\u2019re doing, we can see ourselves as \u201cdedicating\u201d it to someone else.<\/p>\n Good work is a blessing to be appreciated, not a burden to be resented. It\u2019s a privilege to have the opportunity to add value back to a world that has given us so much. And if we think of our work rightly, there\u2019s a good chance we\u2019ll want to enter into it appreciatively, enthusiastically, and energetically. Adding value by giving honest effort<\/em> is a thing we\u2019ll find satisfying and, yes, even enjoyable.<\/p>\n Work! Thank God for the swing of it, Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n
for the clamoring, hammering ring of it.
(Edwin Markham)<\/p>\n