"Drudgery Doesn't Work" Follow interests to find perfect job

by Fawn Fitter
Boston Herald

The concept of right livelihodd is an ancient one, dating back to the Buddha, who considered useful, productive work an essential path to enlightenment.

Yet, the goal of finding emotional satisfaction in a job, and the idea that anyone can achieve that emotional satisfaction, is a late - 20th century phenomenon. Many people feel we live in a society founded on the principle that pleasure is dangerous to our moral well-being. The notion that work can be pleasurable strikes some peopleas impossibleat best, subversive at worst.

But it seems a waste not to enjoy an activity that takes eight to ten hours, a day. After all, a satisfied employee is a more productive one. And everyone is capable of enjoying something - so, why not figure out what that something is, and try to incorporate it into the work week?

Kathleen R. Anderson of Cambridge found her life's dream when she lost her job working for the state as a dance therapist for mentally retarded older adults. Though she had enjoyed her job, she said her true love was yoga.

She had been practicing yoga since she was fifteen years old, studying with well - known teachers, and occassionlally teaching herself through adult education programs.

After long painstaking step by step planning, and with the support of a group of other men and women who wanted to reach their goals, Anderson rented a space in Watertown and opened her own yoga studio.

"I asked myself, "What do you really want in life?" and I decided to take the risk to make it happen." she says.

It is true that sometimes there's no way to translate a favorite activity into an income producing career. In that case all you can do is figure out why you like that activity so much, then try to find another possibility that resembles it.

The key to finding your rght livelihood is discovering the point where what you love and what you do well intersect with what other people are willing to pay you to do.

Everyone is unique, and everyone has gifts, even if they don't know what those gifts are.

What's easy for you as breathing? What do you find yourself so intent on that you lose track of time What gives you the thrill of accomplishment every time you do it?

Start to answer those questions, and you've started to discover what you are meant to do.

The right work "has a hum to it," says Sherrie Connelly, Ph.D., President of the Strategy Foundation in Washington , D.C. You lack the desire to be somewhere else.
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Boston Herald 1995 pg 55 Career Section