Everyday Inspiration: What do you do for a living?

Unhappiness comes in many forms but one of the most telling signs of it is one that so often goes undetected. It’s when we try to answer the simple question, What do you do?

 

I feel that this question is quite antiquated in its connotation, like what you do defines who you are, and I think there are better ways of asking someone how he or she spends their time. But, when asked, it seems we all revert back to placing ourselves into a social hierarchy based on some crazy mental measuring sticks.

 

Instead of hearing, “What do you do?” we hear “how worthy are you?” Our minds instantly spring into trying to measure up to some unreachable standard in our heads and find the best possible view of our current situation. We treat it like a litmus test of who we are.

 

When we are searching for the answer, we get this sort of performance anxiety that routinely leaves us feeling like we don’t quite measure up. Should we portray a perfect veneer or say what’s truly happening in our lives? Really, who are we fooling?

 

Many of us answer based on what we think the other person wants to hear versus where we really are in life. I can’t name how many times I’ve stumbled into people and have asked them what is currently stretching them, causing them to grow and evolve and they actually just describe a job or something so larger than life that it was quite hard to believe. They don’t mention what they are doing currently, owning where they are right now, and it leaves me wondering what the real truth is that might never be acknowledged.

 

If we can’t look at ourselves with honesty and some sort of introspection then how are we ever going to achieve the kind of lives that we have always dreamed of? “We can’t get the life we want if we don’t acknowledge the life we have.”

 

What do you do for a LIVING?

 

According to the dictionary, LIVING means to be alive, to thrive, to be vigorous and strong. Think about those words for a minute and the meaning they hold in your life. Are you living? Or are you fooling yourself and others into thinking that you are?

 

If your answer to the question, “What do you do for a LIVING?” is about the job you currently perform and not the life you live, then perhaps it’s time to fill your life with more of the things that will make you happy and fulfilled.

 

The greatest pleasure in life is when you are doing what you love most and sharing it with the world. This is when you have harmonized your authenticity, married your true nature with the life around you. When you naturally share your gifts, your life and your work in the world become one. At this point, a living becomes a noun, which sustains you physically emotionally and monetarily.

 

Is it time to make some changes?

 

You must start first with looking at where you are now as you can’t change what you refuse to acknowledge.

 

First, take OWNERSHIP of where you are.

 

Honesty is looking at your situation for what it is and accepting where you are. It is the first step in leading you where you want to be.

 

It’s the point where you can say, “I know who I am. I am ok with where I’ve come from. I’m willing to embrace me.”

 

Everything that you have done up until this point has made you the person who you are. Every choice, decision, every success and failure. It’s time to accept and welcome that person into your loving acceptance, your imperfect perfection. After all, it’s what makes you unique in the symphony of life, remember?

 

Second, ask REAL questions to produce real answers.

 

This takes introspection.

 

Examine your need to hide in your current situation and the need to escape into pretending your life is something else. What are you saying in order to fit in and gain approval from others? How many ways are you bending and stretching the truth in order to feel better about yourself?

 

Integrity is being true to WHO you are and this reflects out to others. It’s realizing that your need to fit in may be prompting you to pretend about who you are, saying and doing things that simply aren’t true. Realize that this is a huge indicator that your life is not as you wish it to be and that you must make changes to correct it.

 

Back to the question at hand, “What do you do for a living?”

 

It’s not about a job, it’s about a LIFE. Jobs can give you happiness and fulfillment ONLY when they support you in living the life that you want to lead. For your purpose here is to thrive, not merely survive. You came here to prosper and share your gifts with us. How will you accomplish this if you’re pretending to be someone else?

 

Dare to be your brilliant self! You are the only one being the judge AND the jury.

 

Stop downplaying what you do, or thinking it’s not worthy of recognition. Isn’t it time to be authentic so that you can move into the life that you came here for?

 

That’s what the world has been waiting for!! Whether you polish stones, pluck feathers, repair clocks, if you do it with the full essence of WHO you are, everyone will benefit.

 

When you bring yourself fully into what you love to do that’s when real magic happens. The universe will respond in kind and support you. All you need to do is Trust.

 

Are you ready?

 

As you take each step I will be there reminding you of your Magnificence, and I will continue to do so, until you are able to see it in yourself. © Copyright. Jennifer Annenberg Productions. 2013. All Rights Reserved. This publication may not be reproduced under any circumstances without the written consent of Jennifer Annenberg.