The Three Eights: By Harry Corbissero

         There is a symbol I innovated when I first started working at Goodwill a number of years ago, illustrating what I believed was the very first thing people had to realize, under the general topic of job awareness. I used it to illustrate a premise I felt to be of vital importance for people just entering the workforce—the status of many of our clients—a relevance just as important today as it had been back then. And that is that our day is divided, quite simply, into three eight-hour segments: one for sleep, one for work, and one to have “fun”.

          The concept can suggest that “work is a lifestyle”—a way of life, as in the old days welfare had been—involving at least a third of your time for the greater portion of your time on earth—eight hours a day on average, for 20 to 30 years.

          As such, work is ideally not just something to be “fitted in” only to earn money; the high priority should be placed on finding work that suits you as an individual (the topic of another study unit), that you can take some real pleasure in doing. This makes sense because your life has more value than can be measured by dollar signs.

          The reason for this conclusion is also expressed in the symbol: Our life is not really the compartmentalized affair the symbol depicts.  If a person is totally unhappy for the eight hours a day he is working, this will infuse the rest of his life with the same colorization of regret, regardless of the degree of income involved. In short order, this could lead to a very drab existence.

          In my own situation I like to exchange ideas with people, and have been most fortunate to be able to find work that allows for this, concurrent to generating a livelihood.  To date it continues to be an enriching experience.

          If we are working “only for money” but at some task which goes against the personal grain in some fashion, I believe we will end the game feeling quite unfulfilled. I also believe it’s important for folks to know this at the very start of their vocational life if possible, rather than waiting until time runs out.

          To have a happy life, you must have a happy job… the “three eights” all constitute parts of one whole. This would seem to constitute a significant idea to include under the general banner of workforce development, one of both timeless and universal importance.