For the Love of...What?

What do you love about your job?

If you have something you do, and do well, you're in a good position. However, dream jobs only come when you discover that you actually enjoy what you do. If I could do anything I want and get paid, it probably wouldn't be what I'm doing now. But I said, "Probably." Because I do love this stuff. And I'll take a moment to indulge my ego and point out that people love the job that I do, too.

The problem is, what if you don't love your job?

I'm not talking about a job that you hate: if you hate the job, you're long overdue to move (and believe me, others will most likely be happy to help you to the door).

No, I'm talking about a job you don't hate...but you can't find anything to love about it.

I've been in a place where this was a real problem. People were no more excited about their jobs than they would be unclogging sinks, or washing dishes.

A recent study found that loneliness is contagious. We know that when people feel lonely, they withdraw. What the study noticed is that before they withdraw, they invariably communicate their feelings of loneliness to others. When they leave, everyone remembers their feelings and starts to echo them.

Remember this, because the same is most surely true of the work you do. If your heart's not in it, if you can't find anything about your job to make you happy, you are contagiously gray. Your lack of passion does not go unnoticed: it spreads to other hosts. You don't have to be the head of the Cheer Squad, but if you must share something, look for the positives.

(Lonely link: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/50200/title/Loneliness_is_contagious,_study_suggests )