What Do You Do for a Living?

You may have been asked that question several times. The usual response is to state what you do to earn a living which means your job. However, many years ago a professor of mine taught the class a lesson about life more that his course material provided when he replied “I like to write, read and occasionally hand out with friends.”  The class was taken aback at first because we didn’t get it. What he did was make a distinction between earning a living and what he did to live his life.  He had replied with the latter.

You see a lot of people define their living by how they earn a living instead of what they do for living their life.  It was a great lesson. I don’t recall the professor’s name or even the class he taught but I have remembered that life lesson for over 30 years.  It’s a lesson I have to remind myself of when I get to caught up in the busyness of life and need to remind myself to get back to what I enjoy doing. When you really get down to it, most of us earn a living so that we can enjoy the fruits of our labor by taking a vacation, purchasing the items that bring you joy, going out to eat with your friends or just doing nice things for the people in your life.

Does this happen to you?  Do you get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life?

Now, what do you do for a living?