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Abstract

/p>One of the most significant events that shaped my thinking was what I and my father did during the pandemic.After the initial lockdown in my country, which was about 2 weeks, we quickly realized we would starve if we stayed confined in the house any longer. It was simply not sustainable, and we were also unfortunate that almost all the aid that would help people during the lockdown was embezzled.So my dad and I risked a lot to make ends meet. We started by stocking up on a lot of ginger and lemon, which we all as a family put on our tea every day.Another precaution we took was to walk to work every day. Since all cars could not move (besides, we didn’t have one anyway) we limited our contact with people by walking to and from work only at off-peak hours of the day. So our daily walk to work started at 4:00 am and after over 7 miles, we would get to work, and then we would do the same again at 5:00 pm back home. Therefore, we walked 14 miles every day. But with all this walking, I got to learn about how many people approach the idea of work.During these walks, my dad told me countless stories of what life was like working in the central bank before he retired. These conversations helped me shape my thinking in a way.I learned that skewing so much to any side (working for survival or working for growth) is dangerous. Some people focus a lot on survival and they end up doing unethical work practices to get what they need, while others focus so much on development that they become a liability in the world of business.On the survival side, you end up with a lot of corrupt and unethical people in the workforce, while people who focus on development alone are also not likely to conduct meaningful business. People who mostly focus on the growth side are very rare, but a perfect example of someone that comes to mind is Nikola Tesla and how he did his work.I learned and appreciate that there is a need to find the balance between growth and survival, since this has led me to have a more fulfilling experience.The most important work I do, therefore, changes from time to time. But if we are to find a common thread among all such types of work is that work that helps me learn about myself and the wor

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ld, while pushing my limits to benefit not just myself but the world in which I live, is the most important work I do.This is probably why I do many other types of work outside my engineering background. For me, it is not enough to get a paycheck without learning about my world and challenging myself to use what I learn to make me contribute better to the world I live in.When I was a seminarian, life and the work were easier because I didn’t have to entertain beliefs and perspectives that were contrary to the church’s teachings.Now that I left that path long ago, I have to put in the work to learn about those suppressed beliefs and how I can include them in my experience and make contributions to this world that doesn’t leave out the people holding those beliefs.The real work, in this case, lies in harmonizing the differences between those beliefs and my catholic background and that is difficult. But that’s where the value of my work lies. When I write, I know I am writing to bring people closer to each other rather than to separate them. For me, there is value in work that pushes for unity and that is what I try to push for in my work.Giving myself the work to make the world more united than it is really is a fantasy I dwell in most of the time. There is also another truth that speaks to the incomprehensible nature of human potential and this also fires me up. So my ideal job would be one that forces me to learn about and positively contribute to making the world better in those two areas.I, therefore, gravitate towards jobs that force me to do work that speaks to the masses. So, I love writing, visual art, and programming. These areas help me learn about the world and also do work that can help make people more united and more motivated to find out how far they can push their potential.The pandemic has helped me learn to distinguish and take care of my two primary motivations to work. Sometimes my work matches with my income streams but not always. I, however, know that regardless of whether I earn from an activity, there is more to life than just working for the money and balancing that with the opportunity of growth in other areas is an exciting feeling that keeps me happy to show up to do my work every day.</article></body>

The Pandemic Made Me Fall In Love With Work Again

And yet I worked twice as hard as before

When the pandemic initially happened, I had just returned for the first time in 5.5years to my country. It had been long since I was here last and I figured that my time back was only going to be for a short time to help me catch up with my family before I moved on to the next chapter of my life.

So initially, the lockdown didn’t seem far removed from my plan. In fact, it did fit rather too comfortably into my plan, and that scared me. What scared me most was not the thought that I would have to go a couple of days without food. I was used to this reality when I lived on my own. On deeper examination of my fears, I found out that my fears came from the possibility of deterioration.

For a long time, I had thought that to me, work meant doing activities that were needed for me to survive. That meaning was always the same, even though surviving meant something different each time. In school, for example, work for survival meant studying so that I would get good enough grades to get me to the next level. After school, this meant that I would work simply to get paid. But when that desire was met, I soon found out that I still had the fear and general dissatisfaction with my definition of work, meaning that it spoke to a deeper meaning of work. Long story short, to me, that was growth.

In the pandemic, I learned to recognize the significance of work as an activity for growth. This is a very broad area as well. It, however, helps me have better ideas, skills and so on, which benefits not just me but other people as well.

Take hate, for example. There is no work needed for you to hate someone, but it takes work to love someone, even when they aren’t so loveable.

I now separate what work means to me into two areas and that's growth and survival, and I always try to find a balance between the two.

One of the most significant events that shaped my thinking was what I and my father did during the pandemic.

After the initial lockdown in my country, which was about 2 weeks, we quickly realized we would starve if we stayed confined in the house any longer. It was simply not sustainable, and we were also unfortunate that almost all the aid that would help people during the lockdown was embezzled.

So my dad and I risked a lot to make ends meet. We started by stocking up on a lot of ginger and lemon, which we all as a family put on our tea every day.

Another precaution we took was to walk to work every day. Since all cars could not move (besides, we didn’t have one anyway) we limited our contact with people by walking to and from work only at off-peak hours of the day. So our daily walk to work started at 4:00 am and after over 7 miles, we would get to work, and then we would do the same again at 5:00 pm back home. Therefore, we walked 14 miles every day. But with all this walking, I got to learn about how many people approach the idea of work.

During these walks, my dad told me countless stories of what life was like working in the central bank before he retired. These conversations helped me shape my thinking in a way.

I learned that skewing so much to any side (working for survival or working for growth) is dangerous. Some people focus a lot on survival and they end up doing unethical work practices to get what they need, while others focus so much on development that they become a liability in the world of business.

On the survival side, you end up with a lot of corrupt and unethical people in the workforce, while people who focus on development alone are also not likely to conduct meaningful business. People who mostly focus on the growth side are very rare, but a perfect example of someone that comes to mind is Nikola Tesla and how he did his work.

I learned and appreciate that there is a need to find the balance between growth and survival, since this has led me to have a more fulfilling experience.

The most important work I do, therefore, changes from time to time. But if we are to find a common thread among all such types of work is that work that helps me learn about myself and the world, while pushing my limits to benefit not just myself but the world in which I live, is the most important work I do.

This is probably why I do many other types of work outside my engineering background. For me, it is not enough to get a paycheck without learning about my world and challenging myself to use what I learn to make me contribute better to the world I live in.

When I was a seminarian, life and the work were easier because I didn’t have to entertain beliefs and perspectives that were contrary to the church’s teachings.

Now that I left that path long ago, I have to put in the work to learn about those suppressed beliefs and how I can include them in my experience and make contributions to this world that doesn’t leave out the people holding those beliefs.

The real work, in this case, lies in harmonizing the differences between those beliefs and my catholic background and that is difficult. But that’s where the value of my work lies. When I write, I know I am writing to bring people closer to each other rather than to separate them. For me, there is value in work that pushes for unity and that is what I try to push for in my work.

Giving myself the work to make the world more united than it is really is a fantasy I dwell in most of the time. There is also another truth that speaks to the incomprehensible nature of human potential and this also fires me up. So my ideal job would be one that forces me to learn about and positively contribute to making the world better in those two areas.

I, therefore, gravitate towards jobs that force me to do work that speaks to the masses. So, I love writing, visual art, and programming. These areas help me learn about the world and also do work that can help make people more united and more motivated to find out how far they can push their potential.

The pandemic has helped me learn to distinguish and take care of my two primary motivations to work. Sometimes my work matches with my income streams but not always. I, however, know that regardless of whether I earn from an activity, there is more to life than just working for the money and balancing that with the opportunity of growth in other areas is an exciting feeling that keeps me happy to show up to do my work every day.