This is from the Jim Wendler forum. I wrote this almost 5 years ago and think it's important for people to read, especially young people who currently have jobs they hate. Or maybe if you are years into your career and aren't sure about your choice. Or maybe you downplay/criticize what others do in order to "put them in their place".
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This is a long time coming as Matt Carlson and I discussed this a few months ago and I feel everyone needs to read this. Because what you do matters.
I have noticed over the years that many of us, myself included, down play what we do for a job or what we do for a living. Many people feel that if they aren’t saving a life or curing cancer - they believe that their work, their passion, doesn’t matter. Nothing could be further from the truth.
What you do does matter. No matter what you do.
What you do might not mean a lot to you, especially early on in your life when your job tends to suck. I bagged groceries for two years and I hated it. But it mattered because if I did it right, people were happy. And if I put the tampons in the same bag as the ground beef, people were upset and even if tampons are meant to soak up blood, its not supposed to be cow’s blood. Because bagging groceries matters. Don’t think so? Just wait until someone fucks up your eggs.
Buried at Sea, Indian, EHG, Dragged into Sunlight and Electric Wizard are as important to me as just about anything. They have given me so much joy and have filled my heart and soul with an incalculable amount of happiness. I don’t just listen to the music, it speaks to me in a language that only I understand. While they may “only” play music, what they do matters. Because what they do brightens my day.
The server at a restaurant , the one who keeps my soda crisp and cold, matters because without a cold Coca Cola with my meal, I’m not happy. They could easily brush me off and greet me with a frown, but they don’t. And I’m grateful that they know they matter to me. And I thank them; genuinely thank them.
Don’t think what you do doesn’t matter. Don’t think that a smile and simple manners and pride don’t matter – because they do. And don’t think that what YOU do is more important than what others do. We all have a role in this world, a small piece of the puzzle. And while others’ pieces may only fill small gaps, without them we would be incomplete and unfinished.
