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The world does not owe us a living. We have a place here only if we are able to make ourselves worth keeping.
A job is not a commodity – there is no scarcity of jobs – a job is simply an opportunity to be of service to others, and there is no limit to such opportunities. There is no limit to the capacity of our society to absorb additional goods and services.
The only limit we face is our own capacity to produce useful goods or services for exchange. The only limit is entirely within ourselves and dealing with it is not the responsibility of somebody else.
My career is not ‘me’ it is simply a history of the jobs I have chosen to do. While I may once have seen my career stretching out ahead of me it was a fantasy. The reality was my function at that time. Was I being useful? The future progression was always quite different from my fantasy.
In preparing ourselves for a career we undertake training, but that contributed little to the jobs I had to do. While my qualification was occasionally important, my jobs mostly required no academic training but simply common sense and effort. New jobs mostly have more to do with the nature of our previous jobs than with our training.
Our vocation reflects what we think important when choosing a job. It is an expression of me. Yours might have been to accumulate a pile of money, to make music, or to relieve pain, to honour God, or whatever. It is sensible that your vocation exploits your natural strengths and abilities – your competitive advantage.
Too often we hear a bitter refrain; “I have given this organisation the best years of my life, and this is the thanks I get. All that effort to waste.” Our lives are lived in the present – not some idealized future. Our rewards must be found as we go along or they may never be. The disregard of our vocation is indeed a very bitter loss, mostly realised too late.
If I am clear about my vocation I will not choose a job which does not constructively build on my career. Awareness of what is important to me is fundamental to understanding my vocation, structuring my career and – right now – enjoying my job.
Ultimately we must understand ourselves; but look deeply with care – there we must also address God.
Peter Hoban
"Tension is who you think you should be,
Relaxation is who you are."
-- Chinese Proverb
Original: July ‘00
This page is part of “Living in the Light”
found at: http://www.tassie.net.au/~phoban/
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