JOIN USIn these modern days, a happy and peaceful life sounds more like a far-fetched dream to many of us, a high affluent lifestyle notwithstanding. Mental depression, frustration and disillusionments are some of the elements, which have potent powers in extinguishing the peace and happiness in one’s life.
Incidentally, one of the factors responsible for engendering depression and frustration is the ‘displeasure in one’s professional life’.
I often ruminate over the words of my late father-in-law who spent several years in Germany decades ago. Whenever he spoke of pride in one’s profession, he used to quote the example of a street sweeper in Germany. This sweeper made an appearance every day armed with a king-sized broom and a poker, and would greet everyone around with a cheery “guten morgen’ (good morning). This burly person, who bubbled with high-octane energy, took immense pride in keeping the streets squeaky-clean.
He was so punctilious in his work that even if he sighted a stray piece of paper darting in the air, or a leaf jettisoned by nearby tree, he would go chasing it, till it was pierced by his poker and trashed in the bin-bag that he toted behind. His eyes would then sparkle with tangible pride, as he would throw the final glimpse at the scrupulously cleaned street.
How many of us experience that kind of stark job satisfaction and contentment in our lives? For instance, just watch folks working in some of the lower posts at certain workplaces. You see many of them working with slothful attitude, without a scintilla of interest in their work. This is because of lack of pride in the work they do.
Working in relatively lower levels, they feel they are doing drab menial jobs. Now, at the other end of the spectrum, you find those people slogging in challenges-ridden, cut-throat work arenas. In the former case, if you see people moaning over dreary monotony in their work, here in the latter case, people would be caviling of consuming mental stress and tensions, concomitant in their challenging career.
And on the domestic front, you find many homemakers, who, instead of having pride in their home managerial skills of bringing about overall harmony at home, whine about their interminable household chores. And, in the case of working women, instead of feeling pride in their accomplishments, it is not uncommon to find them lamenting over their lack of a laid-back lifestyle.
In all the aforesaid cases, we find the absence of pride in one’s work that tries triggering the mental stress. On the contrary, once we feel the pride in our work, automatically we find enjoyment in the things we do. Once we enjoy what we are doing, then nothing else would matter to us — neither the monetary benefits, nor the strain involved in the work.
Apparently, with such an attitude, peace indubitably would reign supreme in our life.