The Miracle of Work

I’ve been caught up a bit in the monotony of my job. I work extremely hard, but I don’t always enjoy it. Not to mention when work is overwhelming. While thinking about happiness, stress, and my job, I realized that I wasn’t working for money. Or at least, money wasn’t what I received as payment. I thought, “I’m not earning money, I’m earning food for my table. I’m earning rent. The gas in my car, Mom’s utility bill, my internet service, all the DVDs on my shelf, the books I buy every month. My hard, monotonous work earns Jack’s (pet bird) food, my toilet paper and toothpaste, my tithing, my clothing, my electricity and heat, my nice coat, Christmas presents for my family, my wonderful netbook and my jumpdrives, my music, my pens, my computer speakers. My job earns my livelihood. It means that I can visit my family on the weekends because I can pay for the gas. It means that I can take karate lessons and advance in rank. It means that I can go to activities and bring potluck. It means that I can read the Ensign and the Writer’s Digest.
Work has done so much for me. Yes, it can be frustrating and boring and hard, but that’s okay because all the effort I put into my work is payment for all the other things in my life. By the sweat of my brow, I’m earning a place to live, a savings account (graduate school), friends and parties and karate lessons and books and food and shelter and clothing and my emergency kit and my technology and my cell phone service which enables me to communicate with everyone I know.
My job is so much more than I ever thought it was. It pays for everything! It pays for my lifestyle and enables me to do thousands of things in my life. Wow. I forget that all that stress, frustration, and boredom actually means something. It actually earns something valuable. David O. Mckay said that work is a blessing. I finally understand what he means.