Finding Dignity and Joy in Your Work
After college, I was a missionary for a year-long program in Denver, Colorado, called Christ in the City. I walked alongside individuals who were homeless, most of whom had been homeless almost their entire life. Most found themselves living in homeless shelters, campsites under bridges, and everything in between. Some had a temporary job, and others sat on the corner with a sign asking for money.
Day after day, I would head downtown to meet with my new friends, many (but not all) of whom did not want a life of homelessness. While so many people see them as lazy, beggars, and drug addicts, I saw the potential for so much more. Don’t get me wrong; we encountered plenty of individuals who fit all of those descriptions, and there were days I couldn’t handle being surrounded by people who were very content being jobless and homeless. Yet, I encouraged these individuals to seek the dignity within and strive for more in life.
At the end of my missionary year, it was apparent that if these individuals couldn’t find the God-given dignity they were born with, trying to find a stable job and adequate housing conditions was futile. If I, now a wife and mother comfortably living in the suburbs of Kansas, often struggle to see my value and worth as a worker, wouldn’t it make sense to see that people experiencing homelessness have an even greater struggle?
Turning to Scripture
In Pope St. John Paul II’s encyclical “Laborem Exercens” (“Through Work”), one of his first thoughts is that the existence of human work dates back to the beginning of time in the book of Genesis. “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28; emphasis his).
St. John Paul II eloquently points out that the words “subdue it” do not “explicitly” relate to work, but there is no doubt that man was called to continue the works of Our Father and build on the land he created. What God created was good, so of course he beckons us to continue on with his creation.
Finding Joy in Your Work
Whether you work because you need to, because you want to, or both, find joy in the little parts of what you do. Maybe your job isn’t the most fulfilling or changing lives every day, but take ownership of whatever it is you do, and find your joy in it. Maybe it’s easier said than done. I’m sure so many women can relate to having a job where they feel like they’re just working for the paycheck, but we’re called to so much more.
If you don’t love what you do, try to find the piece of it that you do enjoy, and allow it to transform your days. Embrace it, and let it be the reason you are working. If you are miserable where you are working, maybe it’s time to question whether or not you need to be there and look for other options.
Take this article as a little sign to give yourself permission to find joy at work. Because when you can finally find that joy, you will start to feel more dignified as a person, woman, wife, mother, girlfriend, daughter, friend, and, yes, worker.
My work as a missionary was a wake-up call for me: People take their dignity for granted. Lots of people — even people who aren’t homeless — don’t acknowledge there is dignity in work. Being a missionary made me reevaluate my desire to find work that was fulfilling and could bring joy to others.
It is a privilege for me to have the job I do, and I recognize how blessed I am. There are women across the world who do not have this opportunity to find fulfilling work, and for them, I work harder, I support them when I can through various financial and physical donations, and I pray.
Colleen Godinez is a freelance copywriter living in Kansas City. She graduated from Kansas State University with a BS in psychology and a minor in journalism and mass communication. In her spare time, she loves laughing with friends and family and finding new wines to sip on (sparkling rose on warmer days). She has learned to appreciate the little things in life and soaks up every moment she can with her two kids and husband. You can follow her on Facebook or Instagram.