It’s so easy to get lost in the chaos, trials and tribulations of work.  We get absorbed and overwhelmed. Stress consumes us and we allow our lives to be eaten away by working extra to “stay ahead.”  The fact is there is no staying ahead of it.  In our modern world of push, push, push, there will always be more than we are able to do. With respect to this, work can seem pretty un-rewarding even if it’s something we like doing.  However, there are times that are highly rewarding.  These times often don’t have much to do with work, but rather connecting with people or helping them make a major tradition in life.

Today was one of those days for me.  I’ve been a manager for some time and the constant battle of trying to do the right thing among competing constraints, ideologies and cultural pitfalls has worn my spirit down to the bare bones of integrity.  The constant battle of trying to educate leaders to make decisions with the data given to them has eaten my motivation.  Today was different.  I arranged a retirement party for someone.  This has been in the works for months.  There were a couple of nice gifts involved and a gathering of friends who we used to work with as well as who we currently wage the battles with.  Connections were renewed and strengthened.  Spirits rose as we shared our stories and experiences.

When the person who is well past retirement age made a point of telling me that I was the best boss he had worked for, it made the rest of my woes and sorrows associated with work melt away.  Helping this person transition into another phase of his life has been the most rewarding thing I’ve experienced in my career even more than sending spacecraft to other planets.  A few years ago, I helped someone else retire early due to health concerns, but today was different.  To assist in the voluntary retirement of someone helped me realize the biz of you has more to deal with the biz of life, our personal life and it’s connection with the lives of others and our environment.  Without these emotional connections, our biz will be empty and may circle the rim of meaninglessness.

The biz of you is the myriad interactions and connections which integrate us with something greater than ourselves.  This integration is what makes life rewarding.  It fuels our pleasures and gives us pain at times.  This integration creates the opportunity for our happiness and well-being to emerge.  Happiness is not the goal nor the means.  Happiness emerges from managing ourselves in such a way that integrates with others and our environment while supporting the biz of life.

I apologize for any typos, punctuation or grammar errors.
Feel free to comment and let me know of my errors so I may correct them and better my biz.