NOBODY LIKES TO WORK - OR DO THEY?

Someone once told me a person is given life to work and contribute, to love and be loved and to play and have fun. It sounds good, but I'm not sure it happens in this order for all of us.

Of course, unless you're born into a world of the rich and pampered or you're supported by someone else, you're going to eventually have to work. Unfortunately, to many of us the word 'work' affects us the way it did Maynard on Dobbie Gillis. We don't like the idea and we put it off as long as we can, even our routine chores.

When we were small, how many times did we rush to clean our room or take out the garbage? When we were in our teens, how many times did we rush home from school because we couldn't wait to mow the lawn?

Nobody likes to work. Or do they?

While most people are working only to pay the bills, to get to the weekend and to take a vacation once or twice a year, there are a few who not only like, but love their work.I have been in that last group of people for a while now. Oh, I've had my share of jobs which I didn't like and couldn't wait to see the end of the day. I've been a clerk in a department store, an insurance customer service rep, a human resource manager, a real estate salesperson, a secretary, a receptionist and a plant worker with selling Tupperware, HODA, and Christmas Around the World thrown in between. These jobs were to pay my bills not to fulfill the need to work and contribute.

All my life I wanted to be a writer. I loved books and loved making up stories, but when I was little I was led to believe people didn't write for a living. It took me many years to realize this wasn't true.

Don't get me wrong. Writing isn't an easy profession. If it was, all those people who say, "I'd like to write a book if I had the time," would do it. It takes more than time. It takes dedication and a love for writing to pull it off.

But if writing is something you've always wanted to do and you dedicate yourself to do it, you will soon find you are a writer. And someday you will discover you can love and enjoy your work and with just a little luck be able to pay your bills too.