I got a new boss today. I knew we were hiring him, but I thought he was going to be my peer. Instead, he’s going to take one half of the group (including me) and my boss-until-today is going to take the other half. I’m fine with it. He seems like a decent guy, and we can certainly use his expertise. A few years ago I would have been upset I didn’t get the job, but now I understand that’s not what I want to do. I like the job I have, I’m not getting rich but I make enough money, and I don’t need the validation a higher position would bring.
For me, that’s progress. Major progress.
But I can’t help but be a little jealous of his enthusiasm. He seems genuinely happy to be here, eager to dive in and help us find new and better ways to do things. He’s passionate about building a world-class organization.
You can have a nice, positive, helpful, fulfilling, good life by doing a little of this and a little of that; doing it well and doing it with love. My father was a perfect example of that: he made a living working for the railroad, served as a lay leader in the small Baptist church we attended, and amused himself with the hobby farm that’s now in the middle of suburbia. He had a happy life and helped a lot of people along the way.
But true greatness requires passion – not just the willingness to work hard and be as good as you can be, but the unquenchable desire to do so. I don’t have that for anything in business.
Do I have that kind of passion for my spiritual work? And if so, what form might it take?
I honestly don’t know.
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