Labor of Love

BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE because there is always someone out there that has it worst than you. Every day we complain about our jobs whereas in Tai Shan’s the laborers haul heavy rocks for construction. “Across their backs they placed bamboo poles, and at either end were massive stones, the material for the luxury building under construction. The workers sprinted the 6,600 steps up the mountainside to earn their wages. Because they were shirtless, I saw what seemed to me to be port-wine stains across their shoulders. No, they weren’t birthmarks or tattoos; they were bone-deep bruises”. (P.101) I mean could you imagine this is heart breaking. Do these people work for the love of the work? No, not at all. They are working in order to be able to feed their family. Confucius said “Choose a Job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. Whereas this comment is true but in reality it merely comes into play because “we all trade sweat for food and shelter, we are in no position to choose our job, we should feel lucky just to have a job.” In this world we live in, it is a lot of competition everywhere and if you are not the best at what you do, even if that’s your dream job, you will still not be happy.

MUTUAL RESPECT IN THE WORKPLACE is the most important thing needed in every workplace. We are all equal; the only difference is our capabilities. Just because someone has a higher position than another person that doesn’t mean he or she have the right to disrespect that person and treat them unfairly. And managers wonder why they have to fire people on a daily basis; it’s not because those people don’t know what they’re doing it is simply because of the way they are being treated. “When people aren’t treated fairly, they are resentful; and when there is a lack of clarity there is often a sense of unease. Neither condition is conductive to a state of happiness.” (P.102) We as humans tend to have this egoistic attitude where we think just because we...