Money no give meaning
We long to find and do work that is meaningful, that makes a difference and needs to be done.
—Gordon T. Smith, Courage & Calling
This has been my struggle, and, I'm willing to bet, the struggle of many others. In the modern world we work for large corporations and feel as if we are but a small insignificant cog in a huge machine. The machine will not collapse without our contribution. We are dispensable, almost invisible.
Of course each person's contribution is in fact important for the company to run like a well-oiled machine. But how important is it, really? Besides, it often doesn't FEEL important. (Yes, we are back to attitudes & perceptions.) To take one example, data entry is mindless and routine. It doesn't feel at all critical, although you know that if it is not done, records will go missing, systems become disorganised, and everything ends up haywire.
It's always hard to look beyond one's self & current circumstances and see the big picture. Easier to only see what's immediately around us, with ourselves as the main point of reference. Takes more effort to remind ourselves that the situation is bigger than this, that there is more to life than merely what is right in front of our eyes at this very moment.
In some ways we easily grasp the unseen; in other ways, the intangible is so elusive to us. Many men & women have been visionaries and many are gifted with great imagination. But when it come to looking beyond ourselves, it's always hard. Maybe coz we're primarily self-centred -- I dunno.
It was easier when, in the olden days, people worked with their hands to craft something and could see the object taking shape, or when they laboured in the fields and could watch the seedlings sprout. In our modern world, there is often no visual evidence of the efficacy or product of our work. We get a monthly paycheque like clockwork, and at the end of the day, that's more or less the only thing we have to show for all the hard work we've done.
In other words, we have laboured, and we see the results of our labour -- the money -- and feel no sense of satisfaction. We take the money to buy the things we want, and surround ourselves with comfort and luxury, and still feel no sense of satisfaction.
That's why I believe there's no point working just for the money. A higher salary doesn't help to make work more meaningful or worthwhile. I suspect that we want higher salaries, in part, to compensate us for doing things we do not really enjoy doing and do not really want to do. "If I have to spend my life doing this, then I'll make sure I get something out of it, at least."
But it's a poor compensation. We remain dissatisfied and unhappy, and the money is never enough. I believe this is why so many people feel discontented with their wages and the amount they are paid for the work they do. They're looking for the money to give meaning to their work. The thing is, I don't think you'll ever be at peace, no matter however much you earn, if you keep on having a "they owe me" kind of mentality.
The flip side is those who take their salaries or the amount they earn as a measure of their worth. In our world, if you are good at your job, have the expertise or experience, you can command a higher salary. You can demand perks & benefits. You are fêted.
We all want to be paid more as an assurance that our employers value us and recognise our contributions to our companies. Therefore if our salary doesn't come up to our expectations, we feel discontented & unappreciated. Again, it shows that we're looking to money to give worth and value and meaning to the work we do.
Things simply don't work this way. Affirmation cannot come from that direction, especially since we know that most (if not all) companies' bottom line is the profit margin and that employees are largely expendable. Leave today, and they can always hire someone else to replace you. If we look to the company -- or the wage it pays us -- to infuse our work with meaning & significance, we will be sorely disappointed.