As I get older, I find that spirituality has less to do with grand ideas and more with concrete choices in daily life. Author Gregory Pierce gives ten ways that these choices apply in workplace spirituality. These include:
“7. Discerning how much is enough. At some point each of us has enough money and success and has done enough work for the day. Many firms fail because they attempt to do too much.
8. Finding balance among work, family, community and church. While some of us become “workoholics”, others can lose their balance by allowing church or community to claim more than its proper share of time.”
This morning’s Washington Post has a story about a doctor and a star football player whose discernment and search for balance led them to change the direction of their lives.
Dr. Heidi J. Crayton set her medical practice aside. She became widely known as a MS specialist who also took great amounts of time with her patients. By the time she left Georgetown last year, she had about 1,000 MS patients.
She was in charge of numerous clinical trials, had papers published and was highly sought after as a speaker. "MS is not a 9-to-5 disease," she says. "The more I gave, the more people expected of me. I felt like there was no way out." She felt passionate about her profession and her patients. If I leave, she thought, "who's going to take care of them?"
But she felt passionate about her husband and three boys, too. If I continue this hectic pace, she thought, "who's going to take care of them?"
USC quarterback Matt Leinart stunned the sports world by declining an NFL contract to remain in college football for his senior year. Sports are calling him stupid for passing up the money. Tony Kornheiser writes: “We Should All Be So Stupid”
Here's what Leinart had to say: "College football and this whole atmosphere here, and being with my fans and teammates . . . is ultimately more satisfying, and will make me happier than any amount of money could make someone happy. The money isn't important to me. My teammates and being here is more important to me right now. This is the greatest time of my life. I'm close to home. My family, my friends, everyone's here."
Dramatic, newsworthy choices? Yes they are – but we can use them as an opportunity to reconsider our own choices. It is all to easy to become overly attached to the service we perform or the lure of success. Our jobs, fame, and money can lead us to "disorderd attachments". Restoring perspective and being sure we are attached to the right things is a key to both workplace and marital spirituality.
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