There's nothing wrong with good, old-fashioned hard work.
It builds character, right?
Sometimes.
Just like everything else, it depends on what’s motivating us.
We must always ask ourselves if we are motivated by love or fear.
If we are motivated by love, we will see work as something we do to serve and support ourselves and others, and we will enjoy it and our lives.
But if we are motivated by fear, we will see work as a way to earn or prove our worthiness and value.
That's a lot of pressure.
Constant pressure leads to chronic stress, and chronic stress leads to mental and physical illness.
Notice it isn't the work that leads to stress; it's how we think about work.
What are we making our work mean about us?
Is it a means to an end, or is it part of our identity?
What if you lost your job or were injured and couldn't work?
If you think you would feel devastated or if you think you would feel relief, then you have a worth ethic.
The question becomes,
If our worth doesn't come from what we do, where does it come from?
It's a question that we all wrestle with.
Our deepest fear is that we aren't worthy enough to be loved.
So let's settle this once and for all.
We all FEEL unworthy at times.
Why?
Because every one of us has a brain that tells us we are.
It's the job of our very well-intentioned (if somewhat misguided) brain to protect us.
Each of us has a hardwired brain that tells us we are not enough to prevent us from doing anything it considers risky, challenging, or just plain uncomfortable.
Our job is to understand how our brain works and then lovingly tell it the truth.
THE QUESTION HAS ALREADY BEEN ANSWERED.
We all have inherent value simply because we exist.
We were created to live and to love and to do it in our unique way.
Your identity, value, and worth are not defined by what you do or don't do.
All of our imperfect, broken, beautiful humanity belongs.
When the question of worthiness has been answered, you can begin to live your life from a place of freedom and love, and hard just doesn't seem as hard anymore.