This summer has opened my eyes to many things about working in general, but to a bigger picture as well. Everyone tells me, "No one loves to work. But it's something you have to do." And although it may be true that working is something citizens are expected to do, it should not be something you hate. It should be something you are grateful for and not something you dread doing every day.
I am not here to say that tedious jobs or jobs that require hard labor or working in life or death situations are easy and that people should love putting their lives on the line. In fact, I'm not even here to say that everyone should love their job every day of the week and never have a bad day, because we're human and everyone has bad days. I am here to say that I believe that more people should open their eyes to the bigger problems of the world and not brush work off like a chore and complain about their given right every day. As stressful and hard as some jobs can be, someone always has it worse and someone, somewhere, would be more than willing to take your place.
It has always bothered me that people are so quick to make such a broad statement that "no one likes to work". Some people genuinely love their jobs and working and what they do. For some people, work is an escape. And a privilege. But because people have settled into jobs they do not like or claim they did not choose, they are so quick to jump to conclusions and assume that no one loves work because they don't. Sure, some jobs are less desirable than others. But for many people any job is better than no job. There are so many men and women who are extremely grateful to be able to work and bring money home to their families. Not everyone is privileged or lives in a stable home or makes a stable income. Almost half of America is unemployed. And over 100 million people across the globe are unemployed. Even the people with full-time jobs still struggle to provide for themselves and their families. And to think of the people who don't work and the sacrifices they make to support their families is heart breaking. We, as Americans, take advantage of the fact that we are allowed to work every day and that jobs are plentiful. Numerous countries around the world have very little opportunity to make money and work. The small chance they do have to work oftentimes requires taking jobs that are inhumane, abusive, slave-like and torturous.
We need to be grateful and appreciative for what we have and the opportunities we are given. We always have a choice. And that is why I choose to major in something I am passionate about above all things and choose to pursue a future career that is not only something I love but that is rewarding and humbling. If i have to work for the rest of my life I want the rest of my life to be filled with passion and joy. I do not want to shame working or complain about having a job when there are people all over the world who would give anything to be in my shoes and have the opportunity to work.
I want to wake up every day and look forward to going to work. I want to get excited for what the day holds. I want to get excited about the people I work with and the people I work for. I want to walk into work every day with an open mind and walk out having made a difference in someone's life. Most importantly, I want a job so that I can work to help people who can't work, and to help people who work in horrific situations and give them the privileged lives they deserve.
