Thoughts

I was driving around today to take a little break from studying and it was around rush hour in Nashville. I find my way up and down familiar roads and observing all of the cars speeding past me and people standing on the sidewalks waiting anxiously to cross the intersection. Of course, I realized that people wanted to leave work as quickly as possible and return home, wherever that may be, but what is the point of work if we can't stand going to it?

I know that I may not make much sense, but sometimes I start thinking of these abstract, and sometimes, unsolvable issues. It makes me wonder what people do all day at their "jobs." When individuals leave in the morning, do they go to work for the sole purpose of making money to feed their habits, their hobbies, and their fetishes or do they go to work planning to make a difference in their lives or someone else's life? And if they go to work with a purpose to change something or help someone, would they rush home as quickly?

I'm not real sure where these thoughts come from, but I always find myself doing a good bit of self-evaluation and constantly examining how happy I am with my current situation and where I am headed. The profession I chose changes every day. I feel myself running to the clinic rather than running home. That is a trend that I would like to continue because I find a smile on my face everytime I leave a patient's room or everytime I give a patient good news. There are those certain moments when I have to deliver bad news, but I am able to give that patient and their family options. Options to improve their quality of life or options to further their life 4 more months. Every job will have a downside and everyone will probably want more money at one point or another in our life. But, when we're standing face to face with St. Peter is he going to ask to look at our bank account statement or is he going to ask to look into our soul to gain a unique perspective on how many lives we changed during our short time on Earth?

Sure, money is nice. We get nice things with money and money is one of the main reasons, if not the only reason, we go to work everyday. But, where is the fulfillment, the joy, the happiness if that is all we go to work for? There has got to be something more that we are searching for.

Work. It's a funny word. Most of the time, I believe that it is all in a state of mind. I wonder if we started calling it "play" whether or not we would have a completey different attitude to our lives and to our "work." Everything we do is all determined by our state of mind, our attitude. If you believe that you can pass that test, then you probably will. If you believe that you teach that teenager to practice safe sex, then you probably can. If you believe in what you do, then others will fall in line most of the time.

I wish more people had a purpose for their monotonous schedules every day: Wake up, take a shower, eat breakfast, drive to work, work, drive home, eat dinner, watch t.v., sleep, and start all over. There is so much that we can accomplish in 24 hours. We just have to take advantage of it instead of watching it pass us by every time we punch our time cards.

It starts with me. And You.