Finding Happiness At Work

How can you find authentic happiness at work? Your happiness depends on your inner state of consciousness. It does not have to depend on what you do, but it does have to depend on how you do it.

If you have a job you enjoy, you are probably not reading this article. If you are unhappy in your job, this is a chance for you to awaken.

Observe Your Inner State

Use your work as spiritual practice. Is it possible for your to observe your thoughts and emotions you have about work and while you are at work? Can you see how so much of your suffering is caused by the thoughts your mind generates. "I am not paid enough", "I do not like what I do", "work is boring" can be some examples. When at work, separate the situation you are in from the thoughts you have about it. Your thoughts are the main thing that cause you pain.

If the work is so terrible that it goes against everything you feel, then you may have already left. If you have not left due to fear of not earning any money and can not bring yourself to leave, then your only choice is to bring presence into your job and use it as spiritual practice. If you do not accept what you are doing when you are at work, you are just causing suffering for yourself. You are then resisting the present moment, which will always be painful.

Your two options are to quit or to carry on.

If you decide not to quit then every moment you remain at work will feel bad unless you become more conscious, and fully accept what you are doing.

Be the watcher of your mind, be fully in the present moment. You may find that jobs you used to find very boring or unenjoyable may become far more tolerable when you perform work in a state of present moment awareness.

From this state of inner peace it is far more likely that a more preferable job will come along, or you will just start to enjoy your job more. If you remain in a negative state of mind about work, then you will not feel happiness at work. You will continue to manifest the same reality that you react negatively to.

If you are more at peace while working then your outer reality will begin to reflect this. You may find you even have less fear about leaving. You begin to get your own sense of fulfilment and satisfaction from your own state of consciousness, so you are less dependent on your work or anything else to make you happy. You can find happiness at work in this way without anything changing in your exterior world.

Your state of consciousness should always be the priority. Ask yourself at work "am I in the present moment and fully accepting it as it is?", "is there resistance in me to the present moment", "am I judging the present moment?," "am I telling myself a story in my mind about my work or the people around me?".

Resistance Is Futile

Resistance or negativity will not help your work situation if you are still choosing to work a job you don't like.  All the resistance does is keep the "unhappy you" in place, as well as the job that seems to make you unhappy.  Drop all resistance and see what happens to your happiness.  Fully accept what you are doing at this moment.

You may find resistance and negativity arising within you automatically whilst at work.  Be the space for all of this.  Fully accepting the present moment includes accepting all internal resistance as well as outside circumstances.  Do this and see what happens.

As Within, So Without

As your state of consciousness becomes more pure, present and peaceful, the outer world and your experience will reflect this. Then your work and happiness at work becomes a reflection of how you already feel inside. Ironically, it is as if you do not need the job to be happy or fulfilled, yet in this state the ideal job for you comes along faster.

Be very alert to what is happening inside you, and do not expect a sudden drastic change in career paths or jobs. Find your inner peace within, and everything sorts itself out. Life begins to live through you rather than you living life. Happiness at work ultimately comes from the inside, not from the outside.

"If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place. Primary reality is within, secondary reality without." - Eckhart Tolle

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