Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich.
Be wise enough to know when to quit.
Be wise enough to know when to quit.
~Proverbs 23:4
I love my job! There's just no other way I can say it. God has finally shown me a niche where I not only fit, but love fitting into it. I get to talk with people, offer counsel or perhaps a perspective. I get to share with them from my lifetime of doing life wrong. I get to build friendships. I get to help others who might be struggling. And I get to drink a LOT of coffee!
In my previous jobs, I could not wait to get home and leave work behind for a few brief hours before having to go "back to the salt mines." Because I saw my job as just a means to get a paycheck, advancement was neither available nor encouraged. In short, most every job I have ever held has been a job I dreamed of doing something else. Yet my job now is not a job because it is a joy! I cannot even dream of doing anything else!
With having a joy instead of a job does have a downside (I heard you gasp). When you love what you do, the risk of wanting to do it ALL the time is very real!
One of the things I get to do is teach the New Hires about Law Enforcement Stress Awareness. And one of the items we discuss is the fact that, while many Deputies work extra duty to make ends meet or for some extra money, no one can work ALL the time without burning out. And I am having to learn to example the whole "don't-work-all-the-time" point. You see, even when I am officially off-the-clock, I am still working, thinking about work, learning ways to do more and do it better, reading books about work, talking about work. In short, I get paid to work X number of hours, but I have this habit of working well beyond the X and pushing more toward the Z.
I have heard many times before that "the bosses notice when you put in extra hours." I am slowly realizing that if I am doing my job to the best of my ability, then I will also set aside time to rest and recharge. Let me give you the practical example that smacked me between the eyes: Your cellphone (and most people have them) works as it is supposed to when the battery is fully charged. What happens when the battery drains? You either have to recharge it or it will cease to function. And we are no different! We NEED to take time away to rest and recharge or we will cease to function effectively.
Think about it this way: God took a day off from creating this Earth and commanded us to take a day off as well. Who are we to tell God we're too busy to rest?
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