Psychologist Viktor Frankl speaks of his admission to the Auschwitz concentration camp; of how they were stripped naked and had every bodily hair removed. In “Man’s Search for Meaning”, he writes: “Thus the illusions some of us still held were destroyed one by one, and then, quite unexpectedly, most of us were overcome by a grim sense of humor. We knew that we had nothing to lose but our ridiculously naked lives”.
How tragic when we measure life, failure or success, by possession and position. If only, and finally, we could arrive at the place where we understood that a man’s life is not measured in these. It is all about relationship. We choose a vocational path appropriate for our skills, education and experience, but the need to choose a path arises out of two necessities: to generate income so that we can provide for our selves and our family, and to provide for our “customer/client’s” needs. Every vocation will serve both of these two core functions, and every business must market its products and services in relation to them.
Business is never “just business”…for all of life has a greater purpose. It is completely possible to be busy doing, and miss the whole point of being. Doing is partially motivating…but “being” runs much deeper!
How motivated could we (and our employees) become if we were more purposeful in discerning the connection between our being and our doing? It is impossible for us to answer this question for anyone but our self. We each have the gift of intellect, and the individual freedom to choose.
