“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love…. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”
I came across this quote on my Facebook Wall. It’s from the status update of my former boss quoting Steve Jobs. Lynn Nawata, who used to work for our organization, left us after ten years to become the executive director of one of our compassion ministries in the Philippines, Real LIFE Foundation. She was my most favorite person to work for and with. She’s a great mentor and role model. Our former global communications director now gets to oversee a foundation that provides education scholarships for the underserved of Metro Manila, and she’s madly in love with what she does.
I did a quick Google search to find the source of Mr. Jobs’ quote and found that it’s from the 2005 commencement address of Stanford University.
“I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.”
I look back at my career and think about these words. I can’t claim that as a child or even as a young adult that I knew without a doubt what I wanted to be when I grew up. Depending on the day or my mood, I wanted to be a doctor, a nurse, an astronaut, a veterinarian, or a writer. The one thing I can claim is that life has had a funny way of putting me where I am today.
