Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Work + Health = Wealth + Joy

It’s Sunday afternoon, unwelcome thoughts of work invade your mind.  Your body tenses.  You pray for a minor natural disaster, for time to stop, or the world to end…anything to stop Monday from coming.  None of these events transpire.

The alarm rings, you attempt to burrow your way to oblivion in the mattress.  You fail.  You have to go to work.

Ever felt this way?

I came across an interesting verse in Ecclesiastes the other day that I thought I’d share.

"It is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it.  To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life - that is indeed a gift from God.  People who do this rarely look with sorrow on the past, for God has given them reason for joy"   Ecclesiastes 5:19-20 NLT

Work?  A reason for joy?  Well, let’s see…

Do I want to get up and go to work every day?  No, not really
Are the days stress filled?  Yes, most of the time
Do I work long hours that eat into my free time?  Yes
 
Here’s a reality check.  The “perfect” job doesn’t exist.  There are pros and cons to every work place.  The truth is most days my job as Sales Manager for a Christian radio station is crazy busy and filled with challenging scenarios. 

But with any job (and every situation) you have a choice.  You can choose how you view it. 
 
I can choose to see the long hours and hard work as drudgery that eats into my free time. 
Or...
I can choose to see the positive difference the hours I work make in the daily life of the people who report to me, and indirectly the positive impact my contribution to the company makes in the daily lives of the people who tune in every day to listen to our radio station.

I choose the latter.

I know it’s a huge struggle to be content in life’s circumstances.  And quite frankly a lot of people never make it to that point.

But like I said earlier… in every situation you choose. 

What about the health part of this scripture?  Here’s a simplistic example from my life this past weekend…

Right now glaciers of ice coat the streets and sidewalks, waiting to work their treachery on unsuspecting pedestrians.  I fell victim to one on Sunday…literally…crashing down in a flurry of flailing limbs to end up sprawled ungracefully on the sidewalk.

Today I feel like I started a new workout routine.  Muscles are tight and sore, but here’s the thing.  I’m grateful my body is able to absorb a fall like that.  I didn’t end up in the hospital with broken bones.  I can move around and still go for a run.  I choose the view point that it could have been a lot worse.

Wealth…

I realize Solomon is right, to have good health to enjoy life is a rare gift and it is to be cherished.  It is wealth.  A job that puts food on the table, a roof over my head, gas in the car, and clothes on my back is not to be taken for granted.  It is a blessing…a source of wealth.

Good health, good work, a wealth of blessings.  Choose to be grateful for what God gives.  This is the start of a joy-filled life.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Do you need an attitude adjustment?  Try looking at life from a different perspective by asking this question…What can I be grateful for in this situation?  Make a choice to see the positive.

Looking for some other posts on leading a contented life?  Check out...