It happened every single night. I’d finish up my shift at the Cookie Factory by tossing the unsold product into a brown bag, the butter-soaked goodies sweating through the thin paper and threatening to break free at any moment. Lights turned off, door locked and cage pulled, I’d begin the midnight slog back to my dorm room. It was freshman year and I was about to deliver hope to the tired and hungry masses.
It was one of three jobs that I held simultaneously that year, but this was the one people talked about. This was the crappy job that had my friends lined up awaiting my return. The means might be obvious, but the end? Well, every night I spent time with people I cared about while providing them a valuable service – free cookies.
The point of my very short post (for me anyway) is that every job we have is, in fact, a means to an end. For some, that end is as simple as a paycheck. For others, it’s about gaining valuable experience, learning from someone you admire, pursuing your passion, following your degree path or simply pausing the treadmill long enough to catch your breath and regroup.
I think the temptation to lament missed opportunities or elusive hopes and dreams can be overwhelming. But what about today? What about now? What about that thing your doing this very second? Sometimes I wish we could just stop and think about how what we’re doing today might bring us – perhaps in some small way – closer to our ultimate destination.
And if that doesn’t do the trick, just line up outside of room 1423. I’ll have a cookie with your name on it.
2 Comments
Sometimes a job can be an end in itself, and people are generally a lot happier when it is. We put too much emphasis on doing things to reach an ulterior goal, rather than on things that give us satisfaction and fulfillment in the present, as ends in themselves; and too many people work in jobs they don’t like as a result.
Great point Harris and I don’t think I emphasized that enough. Thanks so much for your comment.