How Was Your Day?

From the vantage point of my middle-class utopia, it's hard to feel a lot of compassion for those who hate their work. If you cover your costs, have a little left over and are not exposed to radiation, that sounds like a fairly good job. We've come a long way from the Depression era mentality of our grandparents. They would have been very satisfied with almost any sort of work, however humbling it might have been. Things were bad for many people.

This is not the Depression. It's the New Economy, and there seems to be work for all who want it, provided, of course, you're not too picky about what you do. That may be tough for some of us careerists, whose goals are beyond mere wealth. Most of us are competent, some even adept, at many things. Genius is rare in the first place, and then it has to find the right outlet.

I'm visiting with some young friends in Colorado. They have bought a house and are fixing it up. They enjoy their weekends in the mountains. They're not awfully concerned with finding the Mogul in themselves - yet. Hopefully things will stay that way for them, because they seem to have a great time. They work to live, not the other way around. Some folks, like me, for instance, am trying to learn from their example.

It's not that they don't have bad days at the office. But they seem good at letting it go. They have a mortgage to pay, so they are not indifferent or irresponsible. They have a balanced attitude about the meaning of work in their lives. Ultimately that makes every day fine.