It's May Day, Labor Day today.  We are all supposed to take it easy from the daily grind.  In honor of the day, I have been reading an interesting book called How to be Idle by Tom Hodgkinson.  He chronicles the history of labor and how with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, work became the enemy of fun.

How many of you have heard the advice to follow your dreams, or do what you love and the money will follow, or that you should love your work so much it is fun to do.  We have all heard that, given a nod and turned back to the grindstone.  Work is serious stuff, work results in money and someday, if we are one of the lucky few, there will be enough money to stop working.  Well, when is the last time anyone you know succeeded with that formula.  Don't say how somebody you know started a business and...and...  Anyone who starts a business does it because they care enough about what they are doing to go out on the limb and that means they are getting something more important than money from the work they do.

Today is a good day to relax in the lovely sunshine we are having and think about why you do what you do and where you expect to get by doing it.  Are you happy?  Are you getting satisfaction, or pleasure, or fulfillment from your work?  If you could drop your job right now, no worries financial or otherwise, would you do it?  Why?  If you want to, what's really stopping you?  Don't say money because we all have money somewhere or can borrow from someone and jobs are a dime a dozen anyway (yes, even in this economy). Answer the question, what's really stopping you?

Tomorrow, or Monday, when you return to the workplace take a fresh look around at your space, your job duties and even your coworkers and ask yourself, Is this where I belong?

Happy Labor Day!