Some
years ago, the Cleveland Plain Dealer ran an essay contest, “Why You Love Your
Job.” The prize was five thousand smackeroos,
and I entered. I didn’t win (they had 1,400 entrants), but I would like to
share my submission because it really tells you something about what has
sustained me in my instructional role over my long tenure here at Goodwill
Industries. Okay, here it is:
I feel quite passionate about my
job and, if that’s love such a designation is okay with me.
I work in the field of rehabilitation
(now Workforce Development) as an instructor of both life and work-related
skills, and have been doing so since 1987. I deal with people who have barriers
to employment.
One barrier the vast majority of the
individuals I’ve encountered over the years share in common is feeling
themselves to be “not as good as others,” for reason of the aforementioned
personal barriers, as well as just being unemployed. My central mission is to
help these folks learn to readjust their
self-views and reignite their inner spark, giving rise to hope and new
ambition.
I’ve certainly encountered days when
my own inner voice suggests to me that there are easier ways to make a living,
but over riding these monetary lapses is the tremendous gratification I
experience when I witness people move past the looming crevasse of their own
self-doubt, and gain a more stable footing on the other side.
That step is crucial as a preamble to
further growth. And, as the old saying states, the first step is often the
hardest one to take.
I hope you’d agree that this idea
still has a value, in spite of what a different world we live in these days.
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