Actually Living or Just 'Being?'

Options
13

Replies

  • bronnyd
    bronnyd Posts: 278 Member
    Options
    Your life purpose is such a deep passion that it can be fulfilled in many ways - a job is just one way. But if you lost that job your purpose is still there waiting for you to find another way to fulfill it.


    I feel like mine is constantly evolving.

    I completely agree with this. I love my job and am passionate about the organization that I work for so I am lucky in that sense. But to me, a job is really at the bottom of the list in terms of what fulfills me and makes me feel as though I am truly LIVING.

    I try to be engaged in my life every step of the way, I try to be fully present in each moment and I try to extract a lot of joy out of my life so that I don't one day realize "I've slept my way through my entire life". I just always remind myself that this is it - this is your life and it's happening NOW and time passes so darned fast so make the most of it.

    I make time for my friends and family, I try to connect with people and surroundings that I interact with just on a day to day basis, I set aside time and money each year for travel, I set aside time each evening for self care, I read and teach myself new things and am learning how to fall more in love with myself each day. These are the things that bring me joy and that make me feel as though I am living, not just existing.
  • Lonestar5775
    Lonestar5775 Posts: 740 Member
    Options
    Great question for the forum.

    I am not overly concerned with whether I love my job or not. A job is necessary and a blessing and I think just calling a task "work" can give it a bad connotation based on how our society views it.

    I find my joy in life from so many other things than simply what I do to earn money. Relationships, community, God's creation, and self-expression, are just some of the things that bring purpose and fulfillment to my life. There are many parts of everyday life, including things that happen on the job, which can bring contentment if we have the perspective to recognize them.

    When I center my life on myself and what makes me happy, then it turns depressing and disheartening quickly. I pity the person who focuses on nothing more than the mirror.
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
    Options
    I've been struggling with this a lot lately. The dread of going to work everyday can weigh you down. I want to do something more with my life, but I like the living I have become accostomed to. I enjoy my life outside of work completely. I've been in the same industry for 20 years, ever since I graduated from college and it is hard to just switch career paths now without another income. I am pursuing a couple of options, but not sure what to do yet. Luckily I have some friends/mentors that are helping me with this.
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    Options
    I did my previous job for 23 years - almost half my life - and I had some great times. But as the cuts started biting and the goalposts kept moving the interest went out of it and it became a constant "back-watching" exercise.

    I now work in my son's school, less than a mile from home. Its not the most glamorous of jobs, I get paid less and have fewer days holiday (I work school breaks) but I do enjoy it, the pupils (and staff!) are a constant source of entertainment (and occasionally bafflement) and I actually have the energy to exercsie when I get home (which can be 4.30pm!) Call it semi-retirement, call it rehab, but cutting out the long train commute and the stress has made a huge difference.

    I may not be editing "Private Eye" (my dream job!) but its not killing me. And I get £1 off my Zumba class for being "school staff" :bigsmile:
  • londonboyben
    londonboyben Posts: 314 Member
    Options
    i love my job, definitely living
    only been there a year but i 'get it' and am good at it,

    for the 1st time in my life i am in control, i project manage and as such i get to add creativity into my job rather than just being given the tools and told how to do it,
    over the year i have been able to evolve what i do through my own input and the results have given me a sense of pride in my work which i have never had before,
    also, my boss is a great guy, all about people progression,

    took me 15 years to go from being to living,

    only downside is to do so well, my home life is currently 'being' rather than 'living' as i commit so much to establishing myself a career where i am, but that's a conscious choice i made for the short term
  • ts1717
    ts1717 Posts: 101 Member
    Options
    The king of just being.....looking to live
  • Liz_Mfp
    Liz_Mfp Posts: 172 Member
    Options
    Are you doing what you were 'born to do' in your current profession and truly loving it or is it something to just get the bills paid?
    Just to pay the bills
    If you've found what you were 'meant' to do in life, how'd you find it?
    At this point I think I am "meant to" pay the bills :-)
    If not, do you believe it is just a bunch of hogwash? In other words, do you believe there is some truth to the saying that if you find what you were 'meant to do,' you never work a day in your life?

    Hogwash :-)
    I'm more in the bloom where you are planted camp, even if poor decisions got you into your current mound of dirt :-)

    Maybe I was supposed to become a Marine Biologist and save the oceans or something, but instead I fell for some guy in college, got married, and had four kids. So am I then "meant to" make a home for the family and love my husband...?... or am I still "meant to" be that research biologist ?

    Can "meant to" change throughout life...or is it a one-time make it or miss it?

    Curious! :-)
  • fannyfrost
    fannyfrost Posts: 756 Member
    Options
    I love my job. I like working, but reality is when that alarm clock goes off on certain days, I wish I was independently wealthy.

    I believe some people may have a passion for a job, but I think everyone finds some days no matter if they do what they love or not, it just isn't what you want to do that day.
  • Espressocycle
    Espressocycle Posts: 2,245 Member
    Options
    I get paid to do what I supposedly love, but it's still a grind. If something is enjoyable to do, people will do it for free.
  • clarkeje1
    clarkeje1 Posts: 1,634 Member
    Options
    I'm sort of doing what I was meant to do. I am working in the field that I want, and doing some similar things that I want to do but I don't have my "dream job" yet. I am a Mental Health Specialist and Clinical Service Provider. I work with adults and kids, substance abuse and mental health. This job is more or less a stepping stone to becoming a counselor/psychologist/therapist etc. Not sure exactly what I want to be but I know I need to get my graduate degree. As much as work stresses me out I do love what I do and know that I make a difference every day and that I am doing something meaningful with my life.
  • Big_Bad
    Big_Bad Posts: 57
    Options
    I am going into grad school so I'm far from having a set job/career path, but the work that I'm interested in doing is work that has been my passion for a very long time. The academic discipline I love fills me with excitement and joy. Looking back on my childhood I can see how the interest was always there, just in different and more basic forms.

    My sister doesn't have that and it makes me sad. I hope she'll find it, as she's only 18, but there's something very sad about people who don't have a passion. I think it's pretty lucky to find something that you find intellectually thrilling or a skill that you absolutely love perfecting.

    I'm not going to get paid very much and I could sell out relatively easily to get paid a lot more doing something I have less interest in and something a little more evil, but I don't think it would make me happy.

    But it feels like that would be a pretty cheap way of living. I could never live for the paycheck. Perhaps it's because I'm not particularly family oriented or traditional and want more passion and adventure in my life long-term.
  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
    Options
    I don't think my "meant to be" has anything to do with my job. I am meant to be a loving and giving friend, mother and wife. That's who I am and what is most important to me. My work suits me but I can't say that I'm passionate about it and it isn't who I am.

    Yea, this is how I think as well. The 40 hours a week that I work pays the bills so that I can be my "meant to be" the other 128 hours of the week. I would never want to be defined by my job or by those 40 hours.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    Options
    Are you doing what you were 'born to do' in your current profession and truly loving it or is it something to just get the bills paid?

    If you've found what you were 'meant' to do in life, how'd you find it?
    Life is not just about your profession
  • robnfc
    robnfc Posts: 17
    Options
    Actually Living or Just 'Being - I totally understand this!! That's what brought me here.

    I was "Mr Adventure" and was never afraid to try anything, I've pretty much traveled the world, had a great social life and lived life too the full.

    After having a family all that changed and the "rut" kicked in. Would I change it? Of course not BUT I did feel like I just existed to pay the bills and keep a roof over our heads. I have a well paid job but I hate it! Is it what I was born to do? NO!!

    But in the current climate I'm very lucky. So instead I found a release.

    So I've picked up my guitar again and bought a new piano. I've started a part time degree and started to read all the books that I've always wanted too. I intend to start playing sports again (MFP for starters) and just generally get some desire and passion back into my life. So far its made up for having a job I hate!
  • xstarxdustx
    xstarxdustx Posts: 591 Member
    Options
    work-wise, i feel like i'm "being" more than "living." but i don't depend on work for happiness, and i've never been driven by the motivation some get from their work lives. for me, my happiness stems directly from interpersonal relationships--with family, friends, myself, significant other (if applicable).

    my being sober for almost 6 years after a short-lived but destructive path with alcohol abuse has shown me the true meaning of gratitude.

    Love your attitude.
  • xstarxdustx
    xstarxdustx Posts: 591 Member
    Options
    I like my job. It's interesting work and helps others. But I would not say I've never worked a day in my life. There are days that it feels like drudgery. Days I’d rather be doing something else. And should I win the lottery, I'd be out of here in a heartbeat. My life is outside my job. But as jobs go, I feel I’m quite lucky to be paid well to do something I enjoy.

    I did not train initially for the work I do now, nor would I have thought I’d enjoy it had you asked the younger me. I just seem to have an aptitude for it and was lucky enough to work for a company that encourages and promotes based on ability, even when it’s outside an individual’s formal training.

    I considered including something similar in the original post, "would the child version of you be happy with what you're doing" because as children most of us are 'untainted' and will follow true desire. Heart is purest then.
  • xstarxdustx
    xstarxdustx Posts: 591 Member
    Options
    I have wanted to be a writer all my life. As soon as I could read&write, I started writing stories and even before then I told my Mom a story before bedtime.

    I now work part time (like two days a week) as a copywriter for a big media company to pay most of the bills. The rest of the time I work as a travel blogger, mental health blogger and as a novelist.

    And I am proud to say I only graduated University 5 months ago ;).

    Well done!
  • xstarxdustx
    xstarxdustx Posts: 591 Member
    Options
    I totally agree!. I knew what I wanted to do at age 18 but for a number of reasons it didn't happen. It remained an aspiration even while I worked in a totally unrelated job, which I sort of enjoyed and ended up in a fairly senior management position, until I was made redundant at age 40 and retrained as a computer programmer. Immediately I knew I had found my vocation and with 25 years under my belt now, I never tire of it or fail to get pleasure from it every working day. I consider myself exceptionally lucky.

    Very happy for you. :)
  • xstarxdustx
    xstarxdustx Posts: 591 Member
    Options
    Born to do? Maybe in the sense that I'm good at it. Do I love it? Not at all. I like my boss and the people I work with, and it's a great job, but I can't say I look forward to going to work and preparing balance sheets and income statements or analyzing bond yields.

    But I'm not sure I'd want to take something I love to do and try to turn it into a career. I think I'd slowly grow to hate it. I can leave accounting and financial analysis at the office when I leave every day (well, most days). Something I love to do? It would follow me around all the time, and I'd come to associate it with work and money and bills. I don't think I'd ever be able to relax.

    Definitely concerned about killing hobbies...
  • Trueray
    Trueray Posts: 1,189 Member
    Options
    Unfornatelty I don't know what my purpose is in life yet. So much to do so little time.

Categories