“I felt like a bum.” Alison spoke those words to me two weeks ago. She was describing a team building activity that she participated in with her new coworkers. She felt like a bum because she was floating down a river on an inner tube while I was home taking care of Benedict. The funny thing is, I felt like a bum, too.

I have three main responsibilities during the day. First, I’m in charge of making sure Benedict is safe, happy, and full. Second, I work on Catholic Husband and the iOS app that I’m developing. Third, I’m charged with maintaining the household. I’ve known for a while that I would eventually be in this role, so I’ve been preparing. The fact is, I feel like a bum because I love what I’m doing. It doesn’t feel like work or a burden. It feels like exactly what I want to be doing.

That was the truly funny thing about both Alison and I admitting that we felt like bums. We both realized we were doing what we truly wanted to be doing.

This is the magic of doing what you want. Work isn’t designed to be oppressive. It’s liberating! It’s a prayer! You can see movement as a result of your labors. You can feel the impact that you’re having in the world. It’s a truly beautiful thing. Of course, doing work that you love might not happen overnight. You might have to come up with a plan to move into a job that you truly love.

The key to loving your work is to work in your gifts. We each have things that we’re naturally good at or that we get a great deal of satisfaction from. When you’re doing work that helps other people, where you feel really fulfilled, you’re most likely using at least one of your gifts.

Our gifts were meant to be shared. So if you’re in a place where you’re not working in your gifts, you might need to make a change. Find ways to start small. Find a volunteer opportunity to help with and pitch in! Find a different way to go about your career or a new angle and work it.

Our gifts were meant to be shared. When you finally get to a point where you’re doing work that you love, using the gifts you’ve been given, you, too, can feel like a bum.

Tags: Productivity