I recently had the pleasure of meeting with a colleague and friend who transitioned out of clinical medicine several years ago, and now applies his intellect to the big-picture (i.e. the economics, management and administration) in healthcare.
Our discussion, although thoroughly enaging, was tough at first; my friend challenged a lot of my ideas and proposed his own solutions, some of which I had not previously considered in depth. I reflected deeply on what he said and being impressed by his analytical acumen, became intruiged by his historical background.
When you see the march of human progress from a bird's eye view, you see that it is incumbent on each person performing the shift - or their life's work - to do so to the best of their ability so that the humanity can continue to advance
As it happens, he had not grown up in wealth, but had worked hard to be where he now is. He emphasised the necessity of hard work, of collaborating with others and of nurturing one's intimate relationships. "Your relationship with your significant other is a priority", he said, " and if it's in bad shape, everything else slowly begin to fall apart."
What struck me however, was an idea he put forward that has stayed with me since:
"Others have performed their shifts so that we can have a more comfortable time in ours", he said.
"Shifts?", I asked, confused.
"Yes, shifts", he continued, "When you see the march of human progress from a bird's eye view, you see that it is incumbent on each person performing the shift - or their life's work - to do so to the best of their ability so that the humanity can continue to advance. My ancestors worked hard during their shifts for me to be here and I must do the same for those who will come after me".
That just hit me like a ton of bricks.
Our shifts truly can become a labour of love.
I had not really considered it like that before; it's all too easy to become preoccupied with the mundane and banal tasks of life, and consumed by our individual problems, but the reality is that I can type on this laptop in the comfort of a warm room, because our collective predecessors laboured hard. By this logic, it would be a disservice to the human race therefore, for me to do otherwise.
Keeping that point of view since I spoke to my friend has fired me even more. I enjoy my 'shifts' because I know that ultimately it's contributing to advancing the caravan of humanity to a higher, brighter and more salubrious model of civilization.
Let us work to leave an imprint that others can use to continue the advance.
Seen in this light, our shifts truly can become a labour of love.
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