By: Mike Jones
The level of happiness is often entwined to our careers. At some point, the two become inseparable. Your career then should represent your authentic self. At least, that would be the case if we lived in an ideal place where we can earn our living by doing the things we love most.
There are some who believe that the pursuit of happiness is merely an illusion and cruel irony, to the point where what we love turns into the very object of our hatred or despair.
In the end, to what strange shores should we head to? Perhaps we should bury our heads, like ostriches, and seek out to live in a Kafkian inferno, where love, joy, and happiness are just keys on an invisible typewriter. Or maybe we can still hope that there is something out there that can truly make us happy.
Why is happiness so important when it comes to your career? It may be a bit truistic, but let’s indulge this thought a moment longer. Falling madly in love with your job means that no matter what happens, you will always find a way to see it all the way through.
Being happy in your career means that you are more productive, inquisitive, and your results are far more spectacular. Also, you will feel much prouder of your achievements.
So, I ask you, what stands between you and your happiness? One possible answer to this inquiry would be society and the so-called natural order of things. From the time we were children, we were brought up to believe that the only way to go through this life is to study, get a good job, find the love of our life, get married, buy a house with a white picket fence, have lots of children, and then pass away peacefully.
But is this the only kind of life we would want to live? Something that works like a clock? What about the things we love to do? Aren’t those essential to our quest for happiness?
One would say that it’s better to find an abhorrent job that pays your bills rather than one that you love doing. This is merely a social construct, or rather, a motif: happiness that can be measured not by your sense of fulfillment but by how full your pockets are.
Ask yourself this: in the end, is money the only thing that matters? Materialism and spiritualism, consumerism and the pursuit of self-realization, sleeping and being awake – a mad race of antinomies, boiling inside your mind, making you shriek for a resolution, inner peace and balance.
Why should your career reflect who you are and what you like? When it comes to your career, the best piece of advice anyone can give you is to stop believing what others think and start listening to yourself.
Maybe true happiness is reserved for those who choose to live their life in seclusion, unaffected by the pressures of society, but we can still manage to get a sense of fulfillment by doing what we love. Do you have a hobby or something you really like? Then you can certainly earn your living by doing it. All that it takes is just the right frame of mind, a dash of imagination, and a steel-strong will.
Still having doubts about taking this leap of faith? Consider the alternative. What will happen if you let others decide for you? You will probably end up spending all your energy conjuring a reason to get out of bed.
Monotony will not only be a reality. It will be the only reality you will ever come to known, together with that inescapable feeling that you could have done something to prevent all of this, but you were too comfortable to even consider it.
What about your current workplace? Is it aligned with your aspirations, your hopes or your dreams? On many occasions, the places we work in can determine who we are, what we are and want we want to achieve.
Should your workplace feel like a place of misfortune, it’s time that you move to other shores. The only thing that’s keeping you from doing what you like the most is your attitude. Society can indeed offer some directions in this matter, but, in the end, it’s you and you alone that takes that step.
