Thursday, September 3, 2020

Love, Hate, and Another Four-Letter Word

A bit of time away from work can help put its value into perspective

By André van Heerden, Communications Director

I recently went on a camping trip to northern Ontario with my family. After a long drive, we set up our campsite, had a late dinner, and walked down to the beach. My two youngest children wanted to go swimming in the dark. With no access to showers I needed the swim, but my wife and two older girls wanted to stay warm and dry on the beach—much like other rational people.

The water and night air were chilly, but it was a beautiful evening with a hazy moon, and the enormous beach was pretty much deserted. Within the large, marked swimming area, the water was quite shallow. It was fun to splash around, and I had the idea to duck under the water, hold my breath, and sneak up on my son and daughter.

Even when submerged I could hear their squeals of excitement and fear and frantic splashing. Being out in the pitch-black water was thrilling, but it was also completely unfamiliar, and imaginations were running wild.

When I finally leapt up with a roar, they yelped and jumped back in fright. Between laughs, they explained how they had been holding on to each other and hopping up and down because they were worried about “toe eaters” in the dark water.

Still, they immediately asked me to disappear under the water and do it again. Then they wanted a turn at disappearing and trying to scare the others!

Later, my wife and daughters on the beach said that they couldn’t see us, but they were pretty sure most people in the campground could hear us!

That night as we were getting into our sleeping bags, we asked our children to say a rose, a thorn, and a bud for the day. Each person gets to list what they liked most about the day (rose), what they didn’t like (thorn), and what they were looking forward to the next day (bud).

When it was my youngest daughter’s turn, she said her rose was playing the monster game in the water. But her thorn was playing the same game! Her favourite thing of the day was also what she disliked the most.

I’m sure many of us can relate to this love-hate feeling when riding a roller coaster, facing a pivotal moment in a sports game, or maybe even when going to work.

Though work is sometimes called a four-letter word, life is also a four-letter word. For many, work can define us. For some, it may just be a paycheque. And for others, it may be the source of their largest social group and network of friends.

I’m sure all of us can remember our first job. And I’m sure all of us can tell a few stories about bad work experiences, terrible bosses, and crazy workmates. But with the bad we should always try to recognize the good as well.

There is of course the paycheque, but there’s also the opportunity to learn new things, meet new people, help others and society, and grow personally. Ask just about anyone who has lost a job: would you rather complain about the work that you do have or the work that you don’t?

We all love taking vacations and often wish we had more. But I know that after my recent camping trip I was thankful for the job I had to return to. My thorn might be all the work that had piled up in my absence, but my rose was that the work was still there.

Love, Hate, and Another Four-Letter Word

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