The Search

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I sat through a presentation this week that really helped me to understand why the idea of being as authentic as we can be is so important. When I first started writing this blog, I thought maybe there were a few people who also liked the thought of finding their authentic voice. But now, as I look at the number of people visiting my blog and watching the videos of me reading it, I think there are hundreds of people - in just the ones I personally know - who are trying to figure out their purpose in life.

​Actually, that number is creeping up toward one thousand. Crazy! It’s almost like I’ve hit a nerve or something.

​The presentation I saw talked about how there’s an interest in spirituality at work. By spirituality, he was talking about Google’s definition: a broad concept involving the search for meaning and purpose in life, often including a sense of connection to something greater than oneself - be it a higher power, nature, others, or one’s inner self. It is often an individual practice, separate from organized religion, that focuses on deep beliefs, values, and a transcendent dimension of existence.

​The speaker talked about how there’s a growing social consciousness in which we are all looking for something more, like a path or a map to our lives.

​We want to feel like what we do makes a difference. We want to leave our mark on the world.

​Sound familiar?

​The speaker mentioned that most people are neither fulfilled nor excited. They’re frustrated.

​I get it.

I remember

​I can give you an example. I’m a rule follower. But when the rules make no sense to me, I tend to toss them aside. As a teacher, I loved 99.5% of the kids I taught, and that’s what kept me going to work. But some of the rules teachers are asked to follow are absolutely ridiculous.

​“There’s to be no food in the classrooms.” I had to ask why. The only answer I ever got was that it would make a mess. Okay, I figured, if I can find some food that doesn’t make a mess, it’s probably okay to offer that to my kids. There’s nothing more embarrassing than having your stomach growl while sitting elbow-to-elbow with other teens. Not exactly conducive to learning.

​I always tried to have a jumbo bag of almonds in my desk. Kids knew that if they used their manners, asking me with a please and offering a thank you, I would give them a handful. The kids didn’t make a mess with them either, because they were hungry and they didn’t want me to get in trouble for giving them food.

Back to the topic

​During the presentation I was watching, it talked about three levels of meaningfulness at work. Your work can be thought of as a job, a career, or a calling.

​I’m just going out on a limb here, but I think if there are so many frustrated people around, most people are probably sitting in a job. But even in a job, we can do something called job crafting.

The example the speaker gave was of a man who worked at a Walmart in South Dakota. Customers would wait in line for him to check them out, even when there were other checkers open. The man would ring up their purchases and then come around the check-out stand to hand them their receipt, shake their hand, and say something nice to them. He gave people a personal connection. It was also mentioned that when he passed away, there was a sentence in his obituary that said, “no one was a stranger in his life.”  

​How cool that he took a job that almost any of us could do and elevated it into something so much greater.

​A favorite story of mine was also mentioned in the presentation. I’m sure you’ve heard it, but it bears repeating over and over. A man came upon a child walking along the beach. The child was picking up starfish that had washed ashore and gently tossing them back into the water. The man looked at the child in confusion and said, “Kid, what are you doing?”

​The child answered, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. If I don’t, they’ll die.”

​The man said, “But there are miles and miles of beach, you can’t make a difference!”

​The child smiled up at the man as he tossed another one into the ocean and said, “I made a difference to that one!”

​To me, THAT story is the epitome of what following your authentic voice can do. You may never ever know the mark you’ve left on the world, but if you know what you’re doing is right, and you’re mindful of other people, deep down in your soul, that’s all that really matters.