147 – Whatever Your Hands Find to Do

The specific work you do in your life does not need to be planned, told, assigned, or felt wonderful about. “Chasing your dreams” went from mantra to controversy in the late 2010s. “Don’t chase your dreams, just make money” became the new slogan. To the contrary, don’t do either one. Instead, chase whatever your hands find to do.

Do whatever you can do well. Don’t do a thing only if you like it. Everything becomes boring eventually. “Chasing” one’s dreams is actually a form of being passive. It’s great to “make” your own dreams, but they must be God-sized and planned, otherwise you’re just fantasizing. Along the way, you will need to go down paths and roads to complete the dreams you grew in your heart. Those paths are the work that your hands find to do all on their own.

It really is amazing how quickly a skill will just fall into your lap that you didn’t choose. Such skills often start as odd jobs, childhood-adolescent obsessions, and more often than not some combination thereof. It’s up to you to be grateful for the odd job requests that come your way. Some people are grateful at first and ingrates later. Consider celebrity self-destruction stories. If you must learn early on to be grateful for the very doable work that comes your way, all the better. Romance is similar. Everything grows mundane sooner or later. Don’t let boredom be your lighthouse to steer you away.

Interestingly, some of the most profitable business sectors are the most boring and non-glamorous. Consider toilet paper, toothpaste, bad coffee, stationary, disposable razors, disposable pens, disposable… anything. Even the biggest, most evil corptocratic brands have found the secret to money: Boredom, it’s not going out of style and no one will notice it.

Few famous people are known for their daily work. Many acclaimed actors return to theaters. Paul Revere was a silver smith who started an insurance company after the Revolution.

If your hands have found something boring to do, all the merrier. Heaven probably played a role in it, so work like it. Heaven doesn’t reward us for what our hands find, but how well our hands work.