Saturday, December 6, 2008

Thank God for work

The alarm clock sounds... it's 5:00 AM. You slowly crawl out of bed and make your way to the shower. Got to wake up! Yes, it's another day of heading off to work. How nice it would be just to sleep in. Instead we have to get up and go to work yet another day.

Have you ever felt this way? Ok, I mean have you ever not felt this way? It's tough going to work when we dread it, isn't it? Your job may not be all that you had hoped it would be. It may not be the best hours of the day to work, your place of employment may not even have the friendliest people to work with, but you know what? You have a job. I'm not being sarcastic here, I'm wanting you to see that no matter how bad you think it is... it can be a lot worse. You know, we complain about so many things. At every opportunity when things get tough, we wonder what it would be like to work somewhere else. When your boss is a jerk, we think it's time to move on. When your co workers aren't friendly to each other, we want to move on. When we don't get the hours we wanted to work, we want out.

Let me help you appreciate your job, because if you don't appreciate your job... you really need to. Take a look around. What do you see? Are you blinded by your hurt feelings and disappointments that you don't see that the job you have is helping to put food on the table? It's helping to pay the bills. It is providing some degree of income for your family. What's the alternative? No job? I'm always amazed at how miserable we'll make ourselves with the job we have when we could simply be thankful for it instead. maybe if we realized how fortunate we are we'll appreciate what we've got. It's happens to all of us. The excitement of our employment last a few weeks or months and then we're no longer satisfied. What happened? What changed? We're no longer thankful. We begin to feel like were owed something else. We begin to think the work is too hard. We begin to think our boss is too mean or unfair with his or her expectations. We begin to feel were not appreciated. We begin to fall into the trap of thinking it's always better somewhere else. You know what I've found out over the years? Your job is what you make it! I've never worked for a place that didn't have tough people to work with... my experience... be friendly right back and things usually work out fine. Don't get your feeling hurt and throw away your job because of somebody you can't stand working with. Do all you can to improve the situation, quit expecting them to change, and try that ol change thing yourself. Your the only one that can change things, you have no control over the other person. And remember this... if you quit and move on to another job, my bet bet is his brother works there, or someone just like him anyway. People like that are everywhere. reminds me of when my son was younger and in school. He had a teacher that he could not stand. He felt this teacher always picked on him and would tease him and embarrass him and he became very angry about the way he was being treated. Everyday he would come home from school and complain about this teacher. "What did he want me to do?" Run in there and yell at the teacher? Seems to be what most parents do now days isn't it? But instead I figured this was a good time to teach him a true life lesson. One that I'm sure he'll never forget. I told him that his teacher was the boss, the authority, and you may not like it, but that's the way it is. That's life, and unless she does something illegal or inappropriate you better figure out what makes her happy and quit fighting her. Wait till you get out there in the workplace and you encounter that boss you can't stand. Are you going to quit all the time and run from job to job? No... you figure out what you need to do to please your supervisor. Young people today have the wrong mindset. They think it's "sucking up" to please the supervisor. I call it it performing at work and being appreciated for what I do. Until I become the boss, I work for one. I must understand this or I will fail in my job. I'll always be upset, I'll always have my feelings hurt and I won't go anywhere. I'm surprised at how many people fail to realize that their supervisor is the very person that can perpetuate their career. I guess what I'm trying to say today is that we need to find the good in our job, rather than the bad. Appreciate what we have. We'll be a lot happier and work won't be such a burden.

Not that your boss, teacher, or co workers are your enemy, but what does the bible say about those you have problems with. Love them Jesus says....

Luke 6:27-31
"But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise."

1 comment:

Jayna said...

We all have to work with difficult people. I personally have one I come in contact with every day. This last week has been a huge struggle for me because of this person. Thanks Steve for reminding me about what the Bible says about our enemies. I used to include this person in my prayers daily hoping it might change him. I realize now that I haven't included him and need to do that again. Your post has come at a much needed time. Thanks again Steve and God bless!