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Sunday, June 14, 2009 |
 
In life we make many choices and agreements that create our lifestyle.
What do I mean by that? Let me take you back to my youth when I grew up dreaming of being an architect perhaps- or a translator (which had the added benefit of travel), or a flight attendant (also for the travel). My interests were clearly reflected in those ideas: the interest in creating place/ space, the joy of learning and speaking different languages and the desire to travel. I don’t recall any particular coaching around how to choose what to do but I am very clear that I had an understanding that my work needed to be in line with my passion and my values in life. Having the work be a reward in itself- before any paycheck plays a role- is and always has been important to me. Choosing the kind of work that has me get up in the morning and looking forward to my workday leads into a sense of fulfillment and integrity.
It saddens me to see so many people in jobs that they see only as a means to make enough money to then in their free time enjoy life- where what they consider ‘life’ happens outside of their work-world.
There is another piece that I recently became aware of: the effect of making a contract/ agreement. Notice for a moment how energy shifts when we do something because we have contracted with someone (maybe a person in a power-position), when there is an agreement and expectation around time spent, patterns (working hours), and outcome.
Compare that to taking on a project by yourself (the garden, home repair, childcare, volunteering), where you answer to yourself and make a commitment from your own desire. It is curious to me why we have so much more energy when it comes to these kinds of activities.
What are your core values in life? What is your passion? How much of this is reflected in your work situation?
People who work in line with their passion will go beyond the limitations of a contract or expectations of others. If there is a sense of empowerment, a degree of autonomy and responsibility, the performance goes up, and so does the level of joy and satisfaction. Its not only about what we do but also how we do it.
There are ways to enhance work: connecting with others around us, helping each other, adding playful elements. Pay attention to the language we use with each other and how much we share of ourselves. Are we competing or working together for a goal? Taking responsibility for how we are in our work situation can shift the level of joy we experience.
Volunteer work can be a great way to initiate change in life. Learning new skills, trying different work, doing good, giving back, connecting with others, bringing new meaning to our life – all those are part of the reason to find places to engage on a voluntary basis. A lot of work gets done: around the world organizations rely on their volunteer participation to do the jobs at hand.
Its up to all of us to live and create the world we want – what’s your next step?
volunteers from the community help out and learn at the Baobab project in Tanzania
fun and new connections on a cob building site
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posted by Elke Cole at 10:20 am |
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| 1 comments - Add comment |
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| Bridget Ely said... |
Saturday, July 4, 2009 @ 2:41 am |
| I absolutely love your ethos about life and how we spend our time.... we all realise instinctively when we have got it right... life seems to flow somehow. I am building an earth oven in my garden this summer and next year aim to help build a house, maybe with you as a volunteer? That would be great and very inspirational...i keep coming back to your website and the development of your project in Tanzania... very best wishes, Bridget(in sunny England) |
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