Working only for money, means cheating yourself?
By amazingheart
@amazingheart (781)
Philippines
January 2, 2009 6:37pm CST
I just read an article that if a man is in a job only for the pay check he gets out of it, he is cheating himself?
What does it mean? If we do not work for the love of work but only for money, we are not likely to make money, nor to find much fun in life.
A job without meaning and purpose is a dead-end street. It will not only give us a mediocre existence, but will never challenge us to a mission of usefulness beyond ourselves.
Our job is an integral part of our life, not simply because it gives us the means of livelihood. Its connection is deeper than that. Our job shapes, forms and determines our lives; since it is something for which we cast our loves.
Therefore it makes no difference how little or how much we get our job in terms of salary, if we do not get from it the satisfaction of doing something worthwhile. We are getting a bad bargain. We are the losers...
We lose in two ways: First, we lose some of life's major and most satisfying experiences of being happy on the job: second, we lost the best of all chances for successes.
Are you inspired by your job? Or would you rather get out of the job to find meaning to you? a job that gives your life significance, purpose and direction...Or would you rather be practical that even if you are not happy you would stay for the sake of your needs... and in order to live....
4 people like this
17 responses
@cookiezencream (22)
• Philippines
4 Jan 09
i'm still a student but i agree with you. a person should not work for the sake of getting a salary but because he is enjoying what he is doing. it is like a project or a course requirement if you're not interested in it your work will just be okay not the best. your work should bring out the best in you. you should be enjoying it and at the same time earning from it. ;p
@mercuryman3a (2477)
• India
3 Jan 09
i love and enjoy my job and I feel I could hver done better from financial point of view in many ohter jobs, but it is a job I enjoy doing and I feel that money is not everything in life. It is important to have moeny as a lot of thing sdepend on money, but it is more importnat to be happy doing what you do. I am very satisfied and happy in my life. I like to spread cheer and see people around me smiling.
1 person likes this
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
3 Jan 09
I think that the idea that your job needs to be fulfilling or something that you love is unfair. While I enjoy my job, it isn't my entire life, so to a certain extent, I just need my job to make money to live off of.
1 person likes this
@meeepppooo (20)
• Philippines
3 Jan 09
I would find a job that im going to be satisfied with. But we do have to compromise to everything thats happening right now. We can never be picky of what we want. People have a lot of wants in their life that they tend to lose thought of what they really need.
@codemonkey (90)
•
3 Jan 09
I'm lucky enough to enjoy my job and get paid well for it. My job doesn't have a deep meaning or contribute to humanity but I get a buzz out of it. That's enough for now. Maybe one day, I will go back to university and contribute to science. But right now, I'm just happy to know that I don't need to worry about money and I'll never have to do a job that I don't enjoy. I come from a poor background so I don't take either of these things for granted.
1 person likes this
@linfang (14)
• China
3 Jan 09
I agree with you, but sometimes we have to compromise. If we are in financial difficulties, it makes sense to choose a higher-paid job; if we are able to get the necessaties of life, it's better to choose a job that we are interested in and is of more significance. And for success, i think choosing an industry is more important than choosing a job. We can change jobs, but we'd better stick to the same industry. I think persistency is one of the factors one needs to gain success.
1 person likes this
@ladysurvivor (4746)
• Malaysia
3 Jan 09
I think it is better if we don't call it cheating, because not everybody is fortunate enough to get what he likes in a job. Many people do not get the opportunity to work in his own favorite fields, even many professionals who needs care and total attention as well as affection towards their jobs like doctors and lawyers are not working fully out of passion.
Working is a means to survive in this world because without work we are not able to earn for a living. If we are lucky enough, we will be blessed with the job of our dreams. I know it all depends on us, if we want something like what people have always said : "where there is a will there is a way" but like what I said just now life is not that easy.
The moment when everybody is living and working their own passion is the day when total peace is already achieved in this world.
1 person likes this
@michaeldadona (5684)
• Malaysia
3 Jan 09
Fortunately your type that miracle word for "ONLY"...ha ha ha, means am not cheating myself. Oh what a good feeling am today in Zamboanga City, the city of Spanish Heritage, your discussion make me feel much much better.
Oh...I am inspired by my job !!! because love has gone far away from me even though the physical body whom I love just live near to me now. So have to shift my concentration on my job. For now, OK I repeat - 'for now' - job is my priority to generate my 'lively' feeling on affection and effect elements. My job is really exciting and rewarding. My heart saying and not my tongue speaking...yes, no choice in order to live. Love now become a great hope and only.
1 person likes this
@srik11 (482)
• India
3 Jan 09
i started mylotting purely for money....
but i swear i have really taken aback by people here,i get responses as if they are my closest friend,,,,
i really find the way to have fun here at mylot money will surely follow me ,,,
i mean i dont need money,i live pretty comfortably,,,,
@lynnemg (4529)
• United States
3 Jan 09
I really do enjoy my job because I am helping people each and every day. I am not working for some big company and only making some rich guy richer. I work for myself and help people every day to make their lives a little easier. I understand the need to work to support your family, but I think that once we find a job that we truly enjoy, live is a bit more fullfilling.
1 person likes this
@sunil_008 (1269)
• India
3 Jan 09
we all should love our work. to be true i never loved my work previously but now i do . in past i was really getting absent minded while doing any work but now i am more focoused with the work. we all know that we do work for our livelihood. so its not a hidden secret of our life. but not enjoying that work is worst than not having a work. there are millions of people on the planet who are in need of work. and we are lucky enough that we have some work in our hands. so i am in favour of your opinion about this matter. after all work is worship.
1 person likes this
@opalina143 (1240)
• Morristown, New Jersey
3 Jan 09
It is wonderful when a person can truly say that their job brings them pleasure, that they love to do the thing they are doing every day. Unfortunately, I don't think that many people really have jobs that they love. One of my best friends is a writer. She worked writing children's stories and scripts for tv shows for a year, but then her bills got to be too much so she had to take an office job. She now only does her writing on the side. Unfortunately, she just can't (yet) make a living at what she wants to do.
I would love to have a career in the arts, but it doens't pay that well when you are first starting. So I am hoping to do what I want in my spare time and just subsist on other things for now.
If you are a person who loves their job, you are truly blessed.
1 person likes this
@mozema (8)
• United States
3 Jan 09
I agree with you, but also when you need the money to support your family, and you have to make a choice between a job you love but pay less and a job that pays more but its not what you wanted to do, I believe most of us will pick the more paying job, but if you are smart to turn this around and accept the fact that this is the job for you, you will succeed in it and be the best in performing a job that was not on your list, and believe me its all mental acceptance to what you do.
@linfang (14)
• China
3 Jan 09
I partly agree with you, but sometimes we have to compromise. If we are in financial difficulties, it makes sense to choose a higher-paid job, though we may not like it at first. If we are able to get the necessaties of life, it's wiser to do a job that we are interested in and is of more siginificance. But sometimes people just use "interest" as an excuse for not doing well in their jobs. If we treat our jobs more seriously and try to love them, things may be different. As for success, i think it is more important to love a job after choosing it. When the time is right, we can change our jobs, but we must not change jobs too often and not dive into it before leaving it. I think persistency is one of the factors one needs to gain success.
@sanuanu (11235)
• India
3 Jan 09
I don't know where you read this article but you must give the link so that we can also know what exactly the author wanted to say.
I have also seen people saying that doing a job for money is nothing like doing a business and being a businessman can make lot of money.
May be that was an article on network marketing where we do little work for more money.
As far as I am concerned, I am not satisfied and don't want to be satisfied at all in my life with money.
@ulalume (713)
• United States
3 Jan 09
I can kind of understand this, however it sounds like this article is leaving out why people want to make money. Many people have friends they wish to do things with (this is one reason I work, to have money to do things). I enjoy going to concerts, and without money this would be impossible to do. Not to mention when holidays and birthdays role around, I also enjoy having money to buy gifts. When a person needs to care for his/her family, children, and such: money is needed.
You see, many (if not most) people do not work just to "make money", but money is necessary for those people to support others and do things that they like.
That said, and individual should find a job they truly enjoy. In that way, they "make money" as well as enjoy working.
