Tip #148 - Find a Job You Love. One of my favorite sayings is “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” I believe that is so true. Unfortunately, we all can’t be drummers or actors or interior decorators. While we should be realistic in our goals, working in a field we love will make a huge difference in the quality of our lives. Doing something that we are passionate about will be much more enjoyable than doing something that pays better money but is a job we do not like.
How many of us can imagine staying at the same job for 25 years or 40 years? Or how about 50 years? Probably not many of us. But those of us who truly love our jobs can’t imagine not doing it. Many of us put up with jobs that we don’t really like to make the “big” money (or at least better money), so that we can retire early and do what we really want – such as gardening, or painting, or writing. Well, how about incorporating gardening or painting or writing (or whatever it is we love) into our careers? It might not pay as much, but we will probably enjoy it more, and not mind putting in more hours or working at it for a longer period of time. Many of us work hard so we can retire early. How about finding something we are passionate about and not caring when we retire? Something to ponder.
In Real Life (IRL) – I want to introduce you to a wonderful human being. Her name is Mrs. V. and she is 91 years old. More than 50 years ago in the mid-1950s she opened up a preschool in her home in the town that I live in. She would have been in her late 30s at the time. At age 91 she is still running the preschool that she started! Imagine all of the change she has seen – having young children in the 1950s wearing formal clothes everyday to children in the 1970s in large flower-print clothes to children today wearing anything goes. From a school with no technology to one that has computers. The presidency in the United States has been through Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Regan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, and Obama all while Mrs. V. is educating children. What a feat!
While I do not know the status of Mrs. V.’s finances, I think I can say with 99.9% accuracy that she is not working because she has to financially. She could have sold off three-quarters of her land years ago and retired in style to a tropical island. But that is not what she loves to do. She is working because she loves children. And children (and everyone else) love her, too. Everyday when I dropped my children off at preschool, I saw the gleam in her eye being around all of the kids. When I drive around town and see her driving her lawn mower tractor on the grounds of the school, I see a strong person who takes pride in what she does. Has working at what she loves extended her life? I don’t know the answer to that question. Would she have lived just as long if she were an accountant behind a desk? I don’t know the answer to that question either. But I do know that her extended life has allowed her to keep doing what she loves. I hope one day I can find a job that I love doing so much that I won’t want to stop doing it, even if I live until my 90’s. Mrs. V. is truly an inspiration as someone who does a job she loves but hasn’t worked a day in her life. G-d Bless Mrs. V. May she live another 91 years. (In the picture, the woman in the red dress is Mrs. V. She is running the annual May Day celebration at the preschool - a true carryover from the 1950s.)
How many of us can imagine staying at the same job for 25 years or 40 years? Or how about 50 years? Probably not many of us. But those of us who truly love our jobs can’t imagine not doing it. Many of us put up with jobs that we don’t really like to make the “big” money (or at least better money), so that we can retire early and do what we really want – such as gardening, or painting, or writing. Well, how about incorporating gardening or painting or writing (or whatever it is we love) into our careers? It might not pay as much, but we will probably enjoy it more, and not mind putting in more hours or working at it for a longer period of time. Many of us work hard so we can retire early. How about finding something we are passionate about and not caring when we retire? Something to ponder.
In Real Life (IRL) – I want to introduce you to a wonderful human being. Her name is Mrs. V. and she is 91 years old. More than 50 years ago in the mid-1950s she opened up a preschool in her home in the town that I live in. She would have been in her late 30s at the time. At age 91 she is still running the preschool that she started! Imagine all of the change she has seen – having young children in the 1950s wearing formal clothes everyday to children in the 1970s in large flower-print clothes to children today wearing anything goes. From a school with no technology to one that has computers. The presidency in the United States has been through Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Regan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, and Obama all while Mrs. V. is educating children. What a feat!
While I do not know the status of Mrs. V.’s finances, I think I can say with 99.9% accuracy that she is not working because she has to financially. She could have sold off three-quarters of her land years ago and retired in style to a tropical island. But that is not what she loves to do. She is working because she loves children. And children (and everyone else) love her, too. Everyday when I dropped my children off at preschool, I saw the gleam in her eye being around all of the kids. When I drive around town and see her driving her lawn mower tractor on the grounds of the school, I see a strong person who takes pride in what she does. Has working at what she loves extended her life? I don’t know the answer to that question. Would she have lived just as long if she were an accountant behind a desk? I don’t know the answer to that question either. But I do know that her extended life has allowed her to keep doing what she loves. I hope one day I can find a job that I love doing so much that I won’t want to stop doing it, even if I live until my 90’s. Mrs. V. is truly an inspiration as someone who does a job she loves but hasn’t worked a day in her life. G-d Bless Mrs. V. May she live another 91 years. (In the picture, the woman in the red dress is Mrs. V. She is running the annual May Day celebration at the preschool - a true carryover from the 1950s.)
2 comments:
Wow, what a wonderful life she exemplifies! You are lucky to have someone like that to bring your children to.
I have been at my position for 3o years! I am a nurse who takes care of pregnant women. I enjoy it a lot, though at present I only work 2 days a week. I enjoy my free time too!
Wow, 30 years is a long time, too! Yes, this preschool director is a gem. She is an instition in our town.
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