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Turning Disappointments Into Gold: Wisdom From "The Business Romantic"

book-cover

I've been reading and savoring a book called  The Business Romantic, by Tim Leberecht. It's a deep, probing, playful and enlightening book that uncovers the soulful, romantic, heart-driven and human side of a person's working self on both a private and public level. I'm not finished with it yet but luxuriating in the ideas it serves up. I'm almost reminded of the fact that a job is like a marriage or a relationship: we commit and then we undulate the ups and downs. We might have aspirations, goals, arrival destinations, dreams of success and acknowledgments but there are disappointments, dissatisfactions, unmet longings, dark moments of the soul, you name it.

But what if, instead of turning away from these and seeking either refuge, an off button or an immediate solution in the form of change (heads-up: you still take yourself with you), you lean in to it, embrace it.

What if this chasm between an individual and their career or job can actually be the very thing that brings a person closer to the work they’re doing---and gives the working relationship more intimacy (internally and externally).

I’m not sure how or what that really means or looks like but I find it really exciting and I’m going to follow the mysterious song.