When I say the word work, I don’t necessarily mean your job. The two can be the same but are not always. I happen to have work that is also my job, and though some people idealize that, there are positives and negatives to both ways of being in the world.
And no matter how much you love your work, there are always parts that just suck. There are days that are exhausting. There are times when you think about quitting. That’s all normal.
With that out of the way…
What’s not normal is feeling that way all of the time. Walking around feeling nothing but drained and maybe even angry is a big red flag.
Here’s the thing: the work you’re meant to do in this world (whether your job or not) is something that feeds the world but also feeds you back. That’s the key right there.
There are days when I think about quitting this work/job I’ve been doing for 16 years, but I know I’m where I’m supposed to be because it brings something important to my communities just as it also brings so much to me. It’s as much my own happiness and sanity as it is any student’s.
So every time I’m feeling overwhelmed or disappointed or just grouchy, I go back to that and remember myself.
I also go back to this little story I read somewhere and I cannot remember where but I think the monk in it is David Steindl-Rast.
A man was feeling really exhausted and overwhelmed by his work/job (some sort of non profit) and he was complaining to his monk friend about this.
The monk friend said something along these lines: It’s not the work that is exhausting you but the fact that you are not giving yourself wholeheartedly to it. ((whoa))
This lack of wholeheartedness can show up for me in a bunch of ways: I focus on wrong things; I don’t take care of my own practices; I try to do too much: I succumb to comparison.
Wholehearted is the opposite of hustle, right?
It’s working from your open heart. And that work always includes self care, a human pace, and a constant return to the fundamentals of your what and why.