Finding Your Job Meaningless?

From FOCUS ON THE FAMILY
TODAY • Thursday • June 12, 2008

By Dr James Dobson

A Russian novelist once wrote: “If you want to utterly crush a man, just give him work that’s of a completely senseless, irrational nature.”

It’s true. In a concentration camp outside Hungary during World War II, Jewish prisoners were forced to move a mountain of dirt from one end of the compound to the other.

The next day, they were told to move it back again. For weeks, this went on until one day, an old man began sobbing uncontrollably and he was led away by two captors. Days later, another man who had survived three years in the camp suddenly darted away from the group and threw himself on an electrified fence.

In the weeks to come, dozens of prisoners just went mad, running from their work and eventually being shot by the guards.

It was later learned that the cruel activity had been ordered by the commander as an experiment in mental health just to see what would happen when people are forced to do meaningless tasks.

There’s no question that the person who finds fulfillment in his or her work will enjoy greater physical and emotional health. On the other hand, a person who feels caught in a meaningless job will tend to become irritable and discouraged. If you sense that your talents are being wasted, it may be time to consider a change of career.

Life is just too short to spend it doing something that is demeaning, monotonous and not motivating. But before you move out of the old house, you’d better make sure you have a new one waiting. Even dead-end jobs are better than none at all.