Every job has its down side.
I guarantee it.
And every job has an upside.
I can guarantee that, too.
The challenge is digging through the dirt: the negative attitudes, the discontentment, the injustices—until you find the gold, even if it’s only one, tiny, little nugget.
When I was in high school, we (my parents and I) spoke at a church in southeastern Oklahoma as guests during a missions emphasis of some kind. Dad talked about how he, a dentist, had volunteered his time and talents to minister to people in other countries. The pastor and his wife had us for lunch in the church parsonage, next to the church building. I recall thinking, as the hostess topped off the Sunday pot roast with apple pie, “What an idyllic life. The pastor just studies the Bible during the week and eats pot roast on Sunday.”
At the time, my biggest worries were whether I would pass my Algebra class at 11 a.m., and survive football practice and 3 p.m.
In comparison, so I thought, the pastor had a worry-free life.
He may not have worried, (Jesus told us not to do that) but I can assure you, he had more on his plate than pot roast.
Had I had the opportunity to know him better, maybe years later, I would have found that if he had continued in his work in a fruitful way, despite all the obstacles that would surely have been thrown in his direction, what would have kept him going wasn’t the pot roast, or even the joy of Bible study, but the conviction that he was doing what God had called him to do.
That in itself is an upside.
But when the upside is lost, the downside will grind you into gravel.
I read about a prominent pastor who, much to the surprise and chagrin of his congregation, quite suddenly resigned, and not to accept another pastorate but to leave the ministry altogether.
When the chairman of deacons asked the pastor why, he simply replied, “The relentless return of Sunday.”
My dad was a dentist, and a darned good one, too. Dad had a celebrated career, receiving honors for his work in his professional circles. Not long before he died, he reminded me of how much he loved his work. (Dad practiced until he was 85 years old.)
But I also remember Dad getting an occasional call late at night from that person who could no longer take the pain of a toothache and wanted Dad to come work on it right then and there. Dad would ask how long they had suffered with the toothache. “Oh, several days, but I didn’t want to bother you during working hours.”
Every job has its downside.
I guarantee it.
But what got my dad go to work for almost 60 years was the belief that he was not just making a living, he was helping people, he was making a life.
My high school algebra teacher, whom I thought had no worries other than to make life difficult for me, had problems with his work, part of which involved students like me, I’m quite sure. And as for my football coach, oh my, I don’t even want to think of the potential for worries a football coach has.
But I hope they saw what a tremendous difference they were making in my and other students’ lives.
As you stop in to pay that bill at the pharmacy, or make the deposit at the bank, or drop your pet off at the vet, and you think, “Maybe I should have done what they are doing…” just remember, they may be thinking the same thing about you.
So, on those days when your supervisor talks down to you like you are a child, or that employee seems to mess up his/her work for the umpteenth time—just to make your life a little more miserable—or so you think, and when you are just about to stand to attention on the factory floor and sing, “Take this job and shove it,” remember the key is finding the upside—even if the upside for that job is nothing more than preparing you for something better, or providing food, clothing, and a place to live for you and your family.
Look to positives, for every job surely has some.
Count them, name them, and repeat them when you feel like quitting.
Because every job has an upside.
And a downside.
Like life.
I guarantee it.