For over three decades, I worked at a job that was so rewarding, and that truly helped me to grow. It was more like a mission than a job; I served as a recruiter and an advocate for employees at a healthcare organization with no regrets. However, adding in all that comes with being on someone else's payroll and marching to a company drum often made it feel like work. But I was committed to do what was a blessing in so many ways - to help others until the day came when I hung up my advocacy gloves and began to walk into my own passion. I was more than ready! I yearned for it, planned for it, and created a roadmap for the journey into the rest of my life.

This plan included a few very desirable things. First, rest time in the middle of the day if I desired, a choice to vacation any time of the year for as long as I wished, and time to reach out to friends and have lunch dates that lasted longer than 40 minutes. But even more than that, it birthed in me a desire to move beyond what I had spent years doing for others. I now wanted to do something to uplift myself, my soul. Life should not be one of all work and no play or even vice versa.

Work may be necessary, even post-retirement. However, it is truly a blessing to find employment that really doesn’t feel like work. Many people fear life after work and immediately begin counting off time just as the characters in the Stephen King novel, “The Green Mile.” After we retire from what we call ‘work,’ there should be something in our lives that includes a level of joy and fulfillment. I choose now to focus on those things in life that bring me absolute joy! “When it starts feeling like work, I just Won’t Be doing it!”  

In a TV interview, I recently heard these very words spoken by one of my favorite performers, Loretta Devine. Her words really resonated with me at that moment, and I realized that she is so good at what she does because she does it effortlessly and joyfully. Of course, what she does as a seasoned actor takes preparation, commitment, long days, constant travel, and more. What shines through, though, is that she is doing what she has always wanted to do and what brings her joy – it is never work.

Three people come to mind immediately when I think of those I know who know precisely what they love doing and do it consistently and oh so well. My daughter can spend a long, arduous day at 'work,' then come home and spend more hours digging, planting, pruning, and picking in her garden till the sun goes down. It can be hot, humid, and buzzing with critters that bite and sting. But gardening is her absolute passion, and she never grows tired of doing this.

Likewise, my neighbor could bake every day, creating some of the most delicious baked goods I've ever tasted. She is unquestionably in her happy place even when she has fifteen or more requests for some sweet treat, especially close to the holidays.

For Ms. Jamie, it's never work, and she's been doing this for decades. And finally, my son, whom I call 'The Chess Master,' is enamored with the game of chess, and has been since one of his five-year-old students taught him the game over twenty years ago. Then God blessed him with a position to teach other kids to play this thinking man's game for a living. Can you imagine that?!

This quote from Winston Churchill sums up what I’m trying to say so succinctly:

The one thing that you would do for free every day is the very thing that can bring you success. We should never give up the search for the one thing in life that brings us the most joy and then, with an effusive spirit, keep doing it for as long as God sees fit for us to do it.