January always seems like an odd month to start a new year to me. Smack in the middle of winter, sliding right in after the holidays, January seems more like a time to lay low, huddle by the fireplace, and browse seed catalogues. My new year seems better suited to starting in the fall, when school goes back in session and the summer fades away. Putting away summer clothes, cleaning out the pantry, buying lots of school supplies (a real weakness of mine), and feeling the crisp newness of the fall air trigger that whole new-year-intention-setting thing for me. So when January rolls around and the airwaves are full of resolutions and expectations for change, it feels like a been there/done that mind set.

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“May the beauty of what you love be what you do”. Rumi

This is the quote that greets me as I walk into my home office each morning. Everyday I read it, smile in appreciation, and get on with my day. But today, I got it. Do work you love, Rumi seems to be saying, and love the work you do. Ahhh…

In everything we do there are challenges. Jobs have high moments and well, not so high ones. Families give us both love and stress. Days are a mixture of all of this and we choose which vibration rules the day. My professional life combines the celestial and the mundane. Some of my time -not nearly enough these days- is spent seeing clients and working with the energy fields of the body. This is deep soul-fulfilling work and I love it. Most of my day though, is spent on the computer doing paperwork, editing announcements, and proofing documents. This can be soul-numbing work when the hours spill into the evening and deadlines loom. Together they are the yin and yang of my day and each serves a purpose.

The energy work reminds me that life is so much bigger than paperwork. The office work grounds me into the reality that everything needs a structure to thrive. I am blessed by both and in doing each of them there is satisfaction. Meaning is derived from a satisfied life. A life that matters is fulfilling. Happiness is the mark of a fulfilled life. The pieces fit together like a well chiseled puzzle.

Each day I make a decision to see my life as beautiful and whole. That doesn’t mean that everything is always great. People die, cars get flat tires, dogs throw up on new carpet, and unexpected bills come my way too. Wholeness of life- or self for that matter- isn’t dependent on circumstances. It comes from choosing to see life experience through a different lens. How I perceive the value of my work, and the delight I take in doing it, are mine to decide. Satisfaction, meaning, love, beauty, happiness, these are words that define a purposeful life.

Loving your work doesn’t have to mean a new job, but it may require a new way of looking at things. The true value of my work is in how I feel doing it. There can be a lot of beauty in an organized desk, a clean floor, or an empty inbox. As much as I see when I help the body to balance and heal in an energy session. Rumi asks me to let that be the parameter of my job satisfaction. I choose to do just that.