I overheard a man complaining about all the “crappy jobs” he had held over the years.  While he was grumbling on like an iPod song stuck on repeat, I recalled a few unpleasant jobs I had to endure.

Like on the farm when I was a kid. One of my all-time favorites (not!) was filling potato sacks with 100 pounds of dirt and hauling them into deep ruts on hillsides created by the wheels on the circle irrigation; or carrying 80 pound steel transmission boxes for the circle irrigation hundreds of feet out through the towering corn stalks on 105 degree days with pollen pouring down my sweaty neck. Oh gross. No wonder I quit farming. LOL.

Anyway, while listening to the unhappy man above, and seeking a happier view to hold, I saw the need to view employment from a higher point of view than what activity one is doing.

When I worked on the farm, there were many jobs I downright detested, but I did them anyway, grateful to have a place in the employment scheme of things, grateful to be earning an income to pay for college, and feeling good about helping my dad. And in fact, some of the older workers on the ranch enjoyed doing the same work I couldn’t stand. So, I could see it was a matter of perspective.

Eventually, I prayed for a job I could really love, and found it. It’s what I do today, and very happily so. But I can’t help but believe that all the positive and grateful thoughts I kept at the time were healthy in the long run and contributed to getting me to where I am today.

Our first and foremost job is to be spiritually minded, to be grateful for what we have, to cultivate spiritual mindedness, to express love and wisdom, and to think true to what God expects of us no matter what we’re occupied with humanly. Fulfilling the tasks of reflecting the divine nature faithfully is always a joy and can help make what we perceive to be a “crappy job,” into a better experience, or perhaps a shorter one.