Results and concrete steps towards results are the only measures of success in our work. I wish that hard work counted in the final equation; it really does not. I often think that attitude and approach should be in the path to success, they do not get past the rhetoric stage. People look at what you and I accomplish in absolute terms. If things are in process, evaluators seek the logical steps towards result. If there, then we might get some credit for our work. There are predictable patterns to how people judge us and what steps we are taking to win.
You might think that I am cynical about all of this. I am not. Work life is what work life is, nothing more and probably something less.
I think it is important for each of us to come to terms with the game we participate in and determine what our personal values are in contrast to it. Is there logic in your life and mine? Is there a pattern to what we do? Does the logic and patterns of work life spill over to our inner self? Do you determine your own value strictly by your results? What is the pattern you use for your priorities? How does God fit into any of this?
I often find myself answering everything but the God piece. I am not sure how and where God fits. I sense a predetermined pattern I must fit into but most people who label themselves “Christians” do not fit!
God is the crucial piece of my puzzle and yours. “What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection.” (Romans 6.8) This belief changes everything; destroys all preconceptions. Who knows what unconditional grace, mercy, and love look like in your life? Who understands the look of complete acceptance of self and others in the hard reality of day-to-day living? I see so little of it I am no idea what this picture will look like; God knows though.
