Quote #152 | Confucius | Choose a job you love, and you will never (…)

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.

Confucius

Work is both an economic and spiritual need. While it helps us meet our everyday expenses and plan for all possible contingencies, it is also a fuel for the human soul, which thrives on action. However, over time, jobs have lost their meaning and have become mere ends to our financial means. Most people seem happy to do just about anything that will help them sustain their families. In fact, it is not strange to come across students pursuing a particular career just because it promises a good scope for decent job opportunities. Unsurprisingly, somewhere along the line, our work becomes more of a burden than something that we are supposed to enjoy.

While this is somewhat understandable for someone who is working their way up the socioeconomic ladder, this survivalist approach is baffling when followed by people from well-to-do backgrounds. More often than not, the jobs that we are forced to take up out of necessity end up becoming the greatest cause of our stress. We get stuck in the clichéd 9-to-5 rut. We seldom learn anything, and when we do, it is often motivated by a desire for a higher social status or a better paycheck. In fact, we go about our tasks perfunctorily, without any real emotion or passion. It goes without saying that such jobs – or rather the attitude to settle for such jobs – does more harm than good. Far from helping us grow, they become stumbling blocks on the road to our dreams.

This is precisely why we need to find a way to make a living out of something we love. Sure, it is easier said than done, but goods seldom come easy, do they? And as strange as it might sound, this is not some new-age phenomenon. Centuries ago, the renowned Chinese philosopher, Confucius, had remarked: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”