Job Satisfaction

It was the last day of our stay in Paris. We were visiting Notre Dame. There was a long line of tourists around the cathedral waiting to enter the place. Getting impatient with the long wait we decided skip this tourist spot. We wandered through some of the densely packed narrow lanes. The streets were lined with street vendors selling souvenirs, sweets, pastries, colognes etc. The smell of fresh coffee filled the air.


At the corner of the street there was big crowd gathered around a vendor. As we got closer, we saw a man carving statues and figurines out of soft stones using some very basic tools. My son was very impressed with his work. He wanted us to buy one of the statues. I looked at the price on it and decided to walk away. My son insisted that I at least let him watch the man work. I agreed to it on one condition - I will not buy him anything from there. As my son was too engrossed in the art work, I thought it was time for me to do a quick round of shopping.


I came back after an hour thinking my kids will be cranky and my husband was going to yell at me for making him wait. But no - to my surprise! They were still at the same place where I left them; my son still keenly watching the man carve his stone. Many people stopped by to watch his work, some took pictures and walked away, some donated a few bucks and yet few others bought his sculptures. But no one stood there and admired his work for a longtime like my son.


It was a hot and sultry day. The man seemed exhausted but he didn't stop his work. His work progressed very slowly as he carefully rubbed out edges of the stone until it got the shape. Then he worked on the details using a small chisel. With no modern equipments just a basic tool set, it seemed like very tough work. The man took short breaks occasionally to provide some relief to his hands and fingers. He worked meticulously on sculpting a large piece of stone.


After a while, he put aside the large stone and picked up a smaller one. I was curious on why he changed his object. He worked on it for a long time. When he finished it, he gave it to my son. We insisted on paying for it but he refused it completely. He mentioned that he did not do it for money and quietly returned to his work on the larger piece.


The simplistic lifestyle of the man on the street corner taught me a valuable lesson - take break every day. Take a break every day from the normal routine tasks and do something that gives a sense of fulfillment in your job. Take a break every day and step out of the performance appraisal rat race to do something that makes you feel the powerfulness of your role – a feeling that no promotion can ever give. Take a break every day from the daily politics at work and do something that makes sense to you. Take a break every day from trying to get under the spotlight and do something that makes you feel proud of. It may not get you a promotion, it may not get you a raise but it will give you a great deal of Job Satisfaction.