Serving Others In All Jobs

"When you work you fulfill a part of Earth's furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born, And in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life, And to love life through labour is to be intimate with life's inmost secret."

—Kahlil Gibran

Opening Our Hearts to Love

The qualities of power and, to a lesser extent, wisdom—in its lower form as knowledge—have been accepted in the business world more than has love. To develop love-compassion we need first to value it. If we view love as sentimentality, being a pushover, or never getting what we want, it does not look desirable. However, if we believe, as science has recently discovered, that all human beings are linked as their atoms interpenetrate each other, then it is obvious that what we do to another, we also do to ourselves. So, by loving and helping others to achieve their goals, we actually serve ourselves.

There are many role-models who show us how to work with love. Jean Vainer, a Canadian who has established self-sufficient communities for mentally retarded people, is one of these. Another great lover is Mother Theresa who has, either directly or indirectly, helped millions of dying people, not only on the streets of Calcutta, but in setting up hospices around the world. When asked how she could work with the destitute and dying year after year she replied, "I see my Lord in each of their faces." Mother Teresa saw the soul in each person and this is the key to develop love. Buddhism puts this practice a similar way by saying, "Treat every being as your mother."

Serving Others in All Jobs

Some people are called by their soul to work directly with those in need. These men and women raise foster children, look after handicapped adults, and work with the dying. Professions such as social work, counseling and teaching develop our love-compassion, but we don't need to work full-time in these professions to learn to love. We can practice love on a daily basis with everyone we meet. Here's an example that illustrates my point.

A few years ago, I was on vacation in Barbados. From my balcony I noticed an old crippled man try unsuccessfully to rise from his chair in the courtyard. A maid, carrying dirty laundry, saw his plight, dropped the laundry and ran to his assistance. She was not concerned whether this was in her job description. Motivated by compassion she acted quickly to prevent this elderly man from falling. She was serving the man in the best way that he needed her. This is what we all need to practice.

I believe that it's possible for everyone to Take Your Soul to Work as I say in my book. However, not everyone thinks it's possible in their work. Oftentimes I'm asked by people, "How does a taxi driver, a maid, a factory worker, a secretary take their souls to work?"

It is an erroneous, but commonly held belief, that some jobs but not others are soulful. Our soul is interested in us developing love, wisdom and power, so we can be conscious creators, and we can do this in any job. Some jobs are more in keeping with our soul's purpose than others, but that work could be anything. For example, a bartender is a lay counselor because customers tell her/him their life stories and problems. This is often true of taxi drivers as well. Maids and housekeepers create beauty and comfort so that their clients are in harmony to do better work. Massage therapists, beauticians, and hair stylists all relax us and give us tune-ups so we can recuperate from stressful work. Secretaries and assistants help others to manifest their dreams and goals in the world. Is this not love?

Builders, painters and factory workers serve the world in different ways. If they believe in the product they are creating, they birth something better into the world. Only if they have an aversion to what they are making is their work soul destroying. For example, if they were making war products, harmful chemicals or an ugly building. Even in the worst work environments we can work with love to improve the lives of our fellow workers and, by doing so, we work with our soul.

So in the end it's not only what we do in our work but how we do it that counts. Do we create an environment where people thrive or wither?

By Tanis Helliwell