Work

Work is one of the important activities of our life. For most of us it is a necessity. Either because we need to earn money to support ourselves and our dependents or because we like to occupy ourselves with some productive work to keep us from boredom and feel useful . A rare few work simply for the love of it. It is to this class the highest kind of men belong. They are generally men of genius for whom work is the expression of their lives. In the following lines I do not wish to address such men and women , they know better and will mind their own business. What I am concerned here is with the majority of us for whom work is for the most part drudgery and struggle with occasional sparks of quality and beauty in it. Overall the kind of people who constitute the great majority of our workforce.

We are generally frustrated and stressed about our work. We always seek external authorities for the approval of the quality of our work and are not sure about it ourselves. As a result we are fearful of the authorities and lack independence of mind. Needless to say we are discontented in the depth of their hearts. The question now is why is this so ? Why can't we enjoy what we do ? Why do we always have to seek other's opinions to assure ourselves of the quality of our work ? Why can't we do our work to the best of our ability and forget it ? In any case that's our best bet. Why can't we stand on our own feet ?

I undestand that some of us are more talented than others. So naturally some of us will do higher quality work. But nobody stops us from doing the best we can. And once we have done that why do we worry about the consequences ? What can be gained from this ? Our part in the play is done. Why do we seek approval ? If we go deeper we will find that reason for this attitude in us is fear of the consequences we might have to face. Generally we work to make a change according to the perceived metric. We fear that if we don't accomplish that we will be in trouble. We assume that somehow we are responsible for the consequences of our effort. But, except in the most routine cases the consequences are generally unpredictable. We won't know in advance what may happen. So, why do we worry about consequences? The answer is simple. We think we are the doer of our actions, we imagine that I am the one who is doing the work , and we feel that I must bring about that change. Once the job is done we own it and shout at anyone who might disapprove of it. What we don't generally see that we are but one of pieces in the universal design of creation. The wind blows because it must not because of its will. It blows because that is its role and function. So, do we work because we must. We have no choice. It is not according to our will. Our thoughts are not our own they are the thoughts of the world or the nature. We are but the players in this universal drama the script is not our own. It is scripted by nature.

It is only when mind starts to realize after careful observation of our experience that we are not actors but action is done through us then, this perception of the doer will gradually begin to fall away and so will our worries and anxieties towards work.