“I hate my job.”… “It’s already Monday.”… “If my boss knew all I had to put up with.”… “All these people are complete idiots”… “How long until my next vacation?”

I know these words… I’ve heard these words… I hear these words every single day. It has become a social expectation to hate work. But what if someone spoke into your life and said you were not intended to hate your job. You do not need to ‘stick it to the man’ for a good time and you should find your coworkers and all the customers you deal with regularly to be some of the highlights of your day.

And what if you are also a parent. Aren’t you supposed to be spending 24 hours a day with your children and your spouse because you love them SOOO much and couldn’t imagine a better way to spend your time? You should not EVER want to work, since it takes you away from these precious people. I mean, at the end of your life all that you have are the loved ones around you. You can’t take it with you, right? Of course! If you just had enough money! You should only work because it takes so much money to live these days, right?

And what if you’re someone who doesn’t get paid at all, or very little, for your work? Selfless. Sacrificial. Spending day in and day out without a single word of even appreciation on most days. Those benefiting from your service should, indeed, celebrate your very entrance into the room. The fact that there has not been a parade in honor of your profession is a travesty reflecting a sign of the times. You are a dying breed and the world will collapse in a mere few generations because who will be there to do your work?

Or maybe you work nonstop. The entire world would fall down if you stopped spinning. If you don’t do it, it won’t get done! Or worse yet… won’t get done right. You are a resource in high demand. Everybody needs you. Work is life. Life is work. More importantly, your ability to do it all makes you more valuable than anyone else. There is nothing that you cannot do, what’s wrong with everybody else?

Or maybe you believe working is for chumps. For people who haven’t quite figured out the secret to life is simply to enjoy it. You don’t need all that stuff. People who work are only after that almighty dollar. You know the secret of contentment. Frugality. It doesn’t matter that in your frugality you are actually living from the crumbs of a worker’s table. It isn’t taking advantage… it’s making do. Why should you work when crumbs are enough for you? I mean, the way everyone else talks about it… why would you ever WANT to do it?

Do you work for money? Do you work for validation? What motivates you after you’ve already cursed the Monday and mumbled to everyone who’ll listen about the perils of your day? What keeps you going through the guilt of dropping children off at day care or makes you smile when your haven’t spoken to a single adult in 12 hours?

Is it money? Should it be?

Most Americans work 16,640 hours in a year… should it really be a four-letter word? Is it REALLY all about money, power and esteem? Or is it more…