I used to come home from work with a headache.
Sure, some days were better than others. But most days, I’d have a headache at the end of the day.
I worked long hours, and when I wasn’t working, I’d want more than anything else to escape from work. A neighbor in New York City had worked almost all the time, then got a sizable financial windfall when the company she worked for went public.
She bought herself a top-floor penthouse apartment and, from that day forward, did nothing.
No work. No charitable activity. She went to the gym and took care of her dog (who was sickly). She seemed genuinely pleased with her new life. She had won herself a permanent escape from work.
And much of humanity, I think, holds a similar ideal. Prosper enough, through hard work or luck, so that you can escape from work forever.
Since those days, I’ve adopted a different ideal.
What if work could be, instead of something we HAVE to do, something we GET to do?
What if our work was a true expression of what we’re about?
What if we invested our work with purpose, joy, and fun?
What if work became, instead of something to escape from, our CHOSEN GAME? What if we learned to love our game?
These days, I still work long hours, but with no headaches. And I've got more energy at the end of the week than at the beginning!
