Why Work is Godliness?

When I enter my workplace every day, I meet a couple of ladies doing their daily work. They are our janitors. I meet a few of them at other times of the day at other places in our workplace. I admire them a lot because they work very hard and do their work sincerely. Besides, I always make it a point to smile and wish them good morning. Many times they wish me back, but a few ladies shy away from any conversation since they can’t speak English. But does that matter? So in this post I will discuss why I think work is godliness.

In many countries, especially from where I hail from, that is India, most people don’t treat all work with equal dignity. This is because of several reasons which span from linkages to caste system and deep-rooted consciousness of inequality. Many privileged Indians don’t consider themselves socially different from the less fortunate or economically backward classes. Here I use the word class, which is a hangover from the caste system in India. Where people were and still today in many parts divided into classes, wherein each class can or should do a particular type of work. Thus, the most backward classes should do for generations the lowest level of jobs, which includes manual scavenging. More so, did you know to this day in India, people manually scavenge sewers?

“When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.”

~ Wayne Dyer

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Why My First Job Was Not What I Aspired to Do?

After graduating from college, I didn’t find the job that I aspired to get. So it was a sort of reality check for me. But I didn’t decide to wait for the right job, instead took what I got right away. It was a very low pay job, not in an established company but in a small scale industry. It didn’t have any formal systems, but the job was technical that I wanted to do. An opportunity to apply my engineering skills in the real life industry. I was eager to learn and get my hands dirty, so I pursued this arduous path. Because no work in beneath our dignity as long as it is safe and humane. Since no work has a higher or lower status.

Besides, it was depressing sometimes seeing my friends getting into the coveted jobs in renowned companies and me doing a highly underpaid job in an unknown company. Hence, for a longtime, I secluded myself from friends and college mates. And focussed on my work, gain experience and so that I could move to a more formal company with better pay.

But the learning for me through this experience was no job is small or less dignified, even if others may perceive it to be. It was like the grind for me. So with this experience, I didn’t find any other work in my career later difficult to adjust to. I had only gratitude that I had moved on to something better. Thus, even to this day, after so many years of work, when I remember my initial days of career, I just feel so fortunate for what I have today. Truly how blessed I am.

Why Work is Godliness?

Treat Work as Duty

This segues to why work is godliness? Because work keeps us productively occupied. Because the most hard work in life is not to have any work. Work keeps us busy and maintains our balance. Just think about it, even if you had a ton of money, would you be able to live your life with no work? Would you not lose your mind after sometime doing nothing?

Did you ever hear that work is worship? In Hindu mythology, Bhagavad Gita teaches about how to make treat your work as worship. Lord Krishna tells us that whatever work one does is an offering to the almighty. This essentially means do your work as your duty. Further, Krishna also says, “Do not be attached to the fruits of your work and do not be attached to not doing your duty.” This might sound difficult for most of us.

Don’t we work to get a remuneration in return? Then how can we not expect to reap the fruits of our hard work? But the message here is we should not be attached to the fruits of our work. For example, we make money from the work we do. But should we get too attached to the money or just continue focussing on the work we do? Then the teachings also say we should not be attached to not doing our duty. That means to say we have lots of money to live through the rest of our lives or we inherited property of which several of our generations can live on. Then does it mean we will not do any work? If we treat work as our duty, then even if we don’t need to work, we will continue doing work as if it is our duty.

Non-Monetary Benefits of Work

So what are the benefits of keeping on doing work as our duty? Of course we get paid for our work, but is money the only reason to work? Let’s deep dive into some of the non-monetary benefits of working.

Keeps Us Healthy

Work helps us stay both mentally and physically fit. Isn’t it pretty obvious? But don’t we often forget realizing this? Besides, don’t we think if we have enough money we will retire and keep busy doing our hobbies? But often retirees soon get bored by doing their hobbies and return to some sort of part time or full-time work even if it is less paid and usually less stressful.

We may feel lazy to go out for our work-outs but how if we had a work which needed substantial physical work? Or just something that demands significant walking? Would it not help us get our steps for the day, then even if we can’t make it to the gym, would that matter?

Further, the mental healthiness that work provides is beyond any explanations. Just imagine, you have been sitting idle because you had a pile of cash to keep burning that you know will outlive you. Then, after a while, how would you feel? Besides, why do many rich people get depressions? Of them so many get addicted to drugs? Because work is a means by which we keep our mental balance, stay busy, and stay blessed. Because we work for a cause and as a duty, sometimes for pure joy and satisfaction. Further work provides us with opportunities to socialize and build relationships at work. Because we humans are social animals and we need the social connections outside of home. More so, this social connection is not connections over social media which are virtual but real in person connections.

Boosts Our Self Esteem

Then how do you feel when you have work to do versus when you have nothing to do? This can be at home or even at work. Since sometimes things can be even slow at work, then how do you feel like to going to work if you know business is going slow and anyway you have little to do going to work? For many of us, work becomes our identity, whether it is the work we do at work or even the work we do after work. Work boosts our self-esteem. Makes us feel we are worthy of something. We can bring to workplace and to the world using our skills, contributions and accomplishments.

Say just like me, I am writing this blog post on during my weekend. Since this is not my work that I do for a living. This is a way for me to give back to the world and find my fulfillment in life.

Gives Meaning to Life

Work helps us find meaning in our lives. Because we live only one life. And when we are in our death beds we can reminiscence what did we achieve in our lives? It gives us our purpose of life. Because we are all born with our own unique skills and capabilities that we nourish as we grow up. Thus, with time, we find our calling in life. So we realize what we were born to accomplish in life, why we even exist? More so, what is the purpose of our lives?

Provides Opportunity to Express Gratitude

Further, not everyone is fortunate enough to work and contribute to the society. Because folks who can work productively for the sake of the economy and self-fulfillment are truly blessed. Hence, work provides us with the opportunity to express our gratitude. Thank god that how fortunate we are that we can work using our capabilities. Both physically and mentally, we are fit to work. Because work is godliness, a blessing from god.

Find Success and Fulfillment

Of course, if we work, then we increase our chances of achieving success and find our fulfillment in life. No one achieves success without hard work. Hard work never substitutes talent or smartness. For sure we need to work smart and have talent, but only work and work helps us tread the journey of success. The pursuit of success could have monetary goals, but finding fulfillment in life is also achieving a sense of accomplishment. Something that we yearn for which it can be monetary or non-monetary. Because monetary gains are not long-lasting, only a sense of fulfillment is long-lasting.

Conclusion on Why Work is Godliness?

Thus, what do you think? Why work is godliness? Is it godliness for you? More so, it is a blessing from god to you? Work not only provides us with an opportunity to earn a living but also gives us the means to find the fulfillment in our lives. We live only one life, and it is our work that gives us our identity and helps us leave our legacy to the world when we are no more.