Day 1: Work sucks

I just got back to work after a 12-days Christmas holiday. Work sucks.

But why does work sucks? We hear about all these talks from motivational and inspirational speakers about how we should find meaning in our job so that we will never work for another day. That’s why when you don’t find your passion, work sucks.

Sometimes I doubt this idea. I am yet to find my passion despite working in child protection where my primary role is to keep our vulnerable children safe.

People would often say, “you are in such a meaningful job! You go and save children’s lives!” But I can tell you that no matter how much success I gain in my work, I am yet to determine what I really want to do for the rest of my life.

It seems like we all want to get into a job in our early 20s and because we love it, so we stay in this job forever. But without decent exploration where you have been thrown into the deep waters, how can you make such a strong statement about your passion?

If I have not tried to work in different areas, how am I able to define my interests and passion?

If I haven’t worked in a psychiatric hospital, I would never know my preference is to work in mental health areas associating to children and young people rather than to adults.

If I haven’t worked in frontline child protection casework, I would never know I have the writing skills to work in a less confronting environment, where I can support the children and young people from a distant position, such as policy work.

My take-home message is that, yes work sucks, but it’s only through these periods you learn about yourself. Without walking this path of exploration, you can never find your passion. Passion doesn’t drop on your face.

I hope to walk through this journey and find my passion. I hope the same happens to you.

https://medium.com/@julwong92/day-1-work-sucks-92f95f0f7697