What Do I Really Do?

The reality is that for the foreseeable future, I will be in my current line of work and quite possibly in my current employ.

This reality comes from the beginnings of recognizing that there are priorities in my life and that these priorities are not all equivalent.  There is in fact a hierarchical structure that exists for them, and by choosing one I am selecting the fact that others are of a lesser importance.

But if that is the fact (and it is), how do I rekindle my enthusiasm for what I do now?

By realizing what it actually is I do.

My work (probably any work) too often ends up becoming a bubble-like existence:  we only see as far as our noses in what we do.  Too often our work becomes a series of tasks that we must complete in order to go home for the day, a list that leads to corporate goals that we may or may not have a great deal of control over.

The tasks will never completely go away, the corporate goals will never be completely within our ability to totally influence.  What does remain within our power - 100% so - is the ability to remotivate ourselves in our positions.

What is it that we do?  Perhaps not what we actually do daily, but what the end result of our activity is.  We all in theory work at something that is ultimately adding value to something larger, an output which is the some total of our varied efforts.  The problem is that we don't very often see the end result of all our effort as it may be light years away from the portion that we contribute.

But we need to remind ourselves constantly of what our efforts do contribute to the whole, what we are doing - and why it matters.

In my own case, I am ultimately working on tests which are used for diseases.  I don't often see that, buried in my piles of paperwork and constant demand for signatures and making decisions.  Often I never see the end result of the processes that I am involved in reviewing and approving.

But the things that I review and sign off on eventually go onto places where they are used to help in determining various diseases.  Individuals - people with children, children, adults, those in the prime of life, those near the end - are affected by the information provided by what passes over my desk.

I impact people's lives.

I hesitate as I type this, because this thought is simply a bit overwhelming.  I virtually never think about this aspect or even see it as I am pressed down over my desk, trying desperately to meet the daily output and tasks.  To expand my view, to see everything I do as ending up assisting medical personnel with an individual's life, is a bit astounding.

But that is the reality of what I do, the reality of what I do as much as the paperwork and tasks and endless mind-numbing tasks that constitute my daily existence.

I wonder how my work life would be improved by committing this thought to daily remembrance.  Not that the work would change of course, just my feelings about what I was doing.  If I really understood what I was contributing to, would it make me work better?  Would I take more pride, more care in what I do?

What would all our work lives, our products be like if we all did the same?