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People often fail to recognize the significance of work in everyday life especially if they are not holding their dream jobs or earning a big income from it.  We often forget that the job we have now is a stepping stone towards achieving what we've always hoped to attain career-wise.  What we do today with out present jobs will have an effect on the opportunities that will be made available to us in the future.

The Philippine Setting

Labor Day in the Philippines is usually greeted by rallies and demonstrations of workers asking for better pay.  Pay determines the quality of life that we can afford to live but to most people, pay is a matter of survival. It represents the capacity of a person to provide for basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter.  The simplest form of entertainment and even education are considered luxuries by many.  Work simply becomes a daily grind to make ends meet.

Most Filipinos are underemployed, meaning that their capacities and abilities far exceed the requirements of their jobs.  This is seen as a preferred option than being unemployed.  However, this situation gives rise to job dissatisfaction which manifests itself in the general conduct and behavior of employees.


The Other Side of Work

Work, to most of us equates to a means of livelihood.  We work because we need  to put food on our table, own or rent a house, and pay for  necessities like clothes, utilities, education, healthcare, and many others.  Work is almost always the equivalent in money currency. 


Because most of us are busy earning a livelihood, it is easy to forget that work also offers an opportunity to be of service to others.   Service is work's higher calling and everyone can do it in everyday life regardless of what jobs we have.  Raising our work to this level can offset to a certain degree whatever lack we have in monetary pay.

My Say

Love your work, value your work.  If you simply can't, find another!  Find that place where you can put your talents to good use.  Make other people thankful that you are there and not someone else.

That said, people often forget the significance of work in everyday life and usually realize its value when it is lost.