Work for Works Sake?

When Jeremy and I were in Ireland in July we made the trip from Dublin to the Cliffs of Moher, basically the most romantic day of my life where Jeremy proposed... but this isn't about that! 

On our drive through the country side our tour guide pointed out these walls all up and down hills that were made of stone, about hip height and literally lead nowhere. 

They don't keep in animals in different farms, they don't delineate between one persons property and another they have literally zero purpose. 

So why, do you ask, were they built?  

Great question. 

During what the rest of the world knows as the 'famine',  the Irish actually call the 'starvation' there was enough food being grown in Ireland to feed the country a couple of times over, but the English, facing an actual potato famine, came to Ireland and took their food by armed guard. Not just the surplus, or just enough to save England, but more, for profit with malicious intent.

In order to show the Irish people who was in charge, they made them earn their food with a full day's work. That full days work consisted of breaking apart boulders and carrying rocks up and down countryside hills to create these walls. 

They earned a penny a day, and a penny was what the English would charge them for food. 

These walls were nicknamed 'Penny Walls' and the English would let people starve unless they took part in the back breaking work to create walls to nowhere. 

As I was listening to this story on the tour bus I so dramatically thought that this was how I felt on a much smaller scale in corporate america. I was spending my days working for something that made no difference and no impact for money. Sure the money was WAY more than enough for food and I had the choice to stay or go, but the impact felt like a wall to nowhere. 

To work for works sake. I wanted to make a difference, to do something meaningful and to move into a version of myself I would be proud of where I spent 80% of my waking hours.  

If you're in a situation that feels like you're working for works sake, I challenge you to dig deep and find something that you can get excited about, create and make a difference. 

If you need help, reach out. 

To YOUR Future, 

Lauren