Why do you work at all?

Work is hard, even if we love what we do. It’s sweat and anxiety and a total brain-drain. Work often leads to a lack of free time, or even sleep. It takes our time and our energies and tires us out.

What’s more, none of us seems to believe our work is paying us what we think we are worth. (Ask just about anybody.)

Why do we even bother to work?

Sure, plenty of folks draw their senses of personal identity from the employment they hold. Others plod away to pay bills, fill their days, and slog their way through the daily muck and mire.

Maybe some people gain satisfaction from financial rewards, professional recognition, and personal achievement.

More than a few might say their work pursuits give them reasons to rise and dress in the morning  and go out to face the world.

Is that all there is to it?

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), the late great author of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, and other famous works, said this about working and careers:

“The home is the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose, and that is to support the ultimate career.”

Most of us work for a livelihood.

We’re supporting ourselves, our families, our animals, or other dependents that make live meaningful. We’re writing checks and constructing careers. We’re trying to sock away something for the future.

But we’re also investing in those we love.

This may sound somewhat simplistic, but maybe that makes work meaningful after all. Perhaps we’re not simply punching time clocks.

Could it be that the most meaningful pursuit of all is building lives and legacies?

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Why do you work at all?

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