You must be sure of two things: you must love your work, and not be always looking over the edge of it, wanting your play to begin.
And the other is, you must not be ashamed of your work, and think it would be more honourable to you to be doing something else. You must have a pride in your own work and in learning to do it well, and not be always saying, There’s this and there’s that – if I had this or that to do, I might make something of it. No matter what a man is – I wouldn’t give twopence for him – here Caleb’s mouth looked bitter, and he snapped his fingers – whether he was the prime minister or the rick-thatcher, if he didn’t do well what he undertook to do.
~ George Eliot in Middlemarch
This last week before school begins, this week before we celebrate those who labor by goofing off, I’m thinking about work, praying and preparing for long, hard days ahead. I confess that I do look over the edge of my work. Just this morning I was yearning for the opportunity to read something “just for fun” aka self-indulgent stuff. The summer has come and will soon be over. I have two years left of home schooling and I would surely like to “learn to do it well” without excuses (“there’s this and there’s that”) or whining.
Comments (2)
Yesterday I was tempted to make a list of all the tasks I had completed. I wanted to *feel* like I had *finished* my work. But all that came to mind were the chores I hadnt done
Instead I made a list of books I’m reading.
Here’s a link to a Robert Service poem.
http://poemhunter.com/poem/work-and-joy/
Practicing the art of completing a day’s work in a day’s time,
I am only mildly distracted from my duties today.
Dana in GA
For an avowed and guilty work-nut both of these last two postings have blessed me. I have to breath more and look over the edge more. But these both helped me to see not the guilt of not doing but the joy of accomplishment in doing all in the name of Jesus. Thanks friend!