Dear friend,
During Inner Renewal Week, Nayaswami Devi pointed in one of her talks the difference between “Doing what you love” and “Loving what you do.” It's very popular for the advice to be given – to younger people in particular – that they should do what they love. Well that's all right, if one can do that. However, in the world I’m living in, there are many things that need to be done, that might not of themselves be inspiring. Potters who set up their own studio, for example, would expect to have to buy a wheel, clay, a kiln, and many tools. They need to do the bookkeeping and fill out tax forms. They need to clean up at the end of the day. If only throwing pots makes them happy, then they will spend a lot of every day unhappy. If the studio doesn’t succeed, and they have to get a job in construction, will they be forever unhappy? There is a better way.
If we try to find happiness only by doing what we love, then we are missing a greater opportunity. By learning to love what we do, it becomes possible to be happy regardless of what we are doing. Ways to love doing whatever we do include doing it for others, and doing it for God. When whatever we do becomes service, or is offered to the Divine, we can truly be happy about doing it. Remembering – and working on experiencing – that God is the doer, makes it easier.
The Karma Yoga Program at The Expanding Light is where many great souls deepen their understanding of this truth. But you can love what you do wherever you are, and whatever you are doing. Loving what you do will, by the way, make you more magnetic, which will attract more opportunities.
God loves you,
Nayaswami Nityananda
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