I read an article yesterday that my friend Katie posted from the Huffington Post. In it, the author, a mother of three young children, articulated why she so despises the countless times that people in public places will, in one form or another, tell her to “Carpe Diem,” or cherish the time that she has with her small children. She makes the point that we can’t actually cherish every single moment of every single day (if we try to, we will drive ourselves nuts), but rather we can look for certain brief moments each day that are “cherishable.”
In the way that this woman hates being told to “Carpe Diem,” I hate hearing the quote, “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” This is pure crap. I can accept that there probably are, somewhere in the world, those unbearably positive, optimistic individuals, who may actually feel this way about their jobs, but for the vast majority of us who don’t live with our head in the clouds, a job is still a job. Work is still work. Even if you love it.
I am a teacher. I know that this is the job that best fits my skill set. As a Christian, I know that this is the place where God has called me to be for this season of my life. It is a job that is fulfilling and rewarding. I leave each day feeling like I’ve actually accomplished something (not always as much as I would have liked, but at least something). Yet, it is still work. Hard work, at that. Anything worth doing is hard, at least at certain points or in certain ways. It is the kind of hard that makes me go home in tears some days. It is the kind of hard that keeps me up some nights. It is the kind of hard that makes me question whether or not I am doing it well enough. Despite all of this, I still know it is the job that I am supposed to be doing and that I am designed to do. It is still fulfilling and rewarding. Yet I struggle to say, “I love teaching.” So when I hear people say, “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life,” I wonder several things: Why don’t I feel this way? Is it because I don’t love teaching? Why don’t I love teaching? If I don’t love teaching, knowing that’s where I’m supposed to be, what do I love? Do I love anything? I don’t think I love anything! At least, not in that kind of way. Not in the “do this and it will make you enough money to live off of but still not feel like work” kind of way. I love my family, but that’s not exactly a “thing” or a “job.” Those are people. And even if we’re talking about the job of being a mom and raising a family, there again I find myself back at the point that the author of the “Carpe Diem” article mentioned, which is that parenting is HARD WORK. It will still feel like work, even if you love it. So, why do I have such a hard time saying, “I love teaching”? I was unbearably encouraged in the “Carpe Diem” article to read a quote from an author that was being interviewed. He was asked, “Do you love writing?” He answered, “No. But I love having written.” I don’t know that I ever would have thought to express it that way, but I think this fits how I feel. Do I love teaching? Not always. But I do love having taught. I love the result, the product, the change, the impact. Do I love the process? Not usually. I hate getting up in the mornings. I hate having to be to work on time. I hate when lessons don’t go as planned or students don’t behave as expected. Am I pretty decent at managing these issues? Sure. Does that make it “easy” or “non-work-like”? No! But it sure feels worth it when the end of a science lesson about the elements on the periodic table is cut short and the kids shout out, “Oh man! We were just getting to the good part!” (Are you kidding me? Elements? That’s what gets you going?) Or when I’m reading an incredibly well-written book to the class, and they moan at the end of a chapter, “Oh please read just one more!” This I love. This is what I drag myself out of bed for. Do I love teaching? No. But I love having taught.
