Job or Vocation

The majority of people go to work because they have to and not necessarily because they enjoy what they do for a living. The number of people who are dissatisfied with their jobs continues to increase. Twenty years ago, some 60% of that generation was satisfied with their jobs. Today, that figure is roughly 46%. (Job Satisfaction at its Lowest Level in Two Decades, 2010, para 5).

My father was a rarity because he was a construction engineer and absolutely loved his vocation. He worked on anything from the atom bomb, to petroleum plants in Texas to an ammonia plant in Russia. His final project was as a consultant for Bechtel Pacific Corporation and Mobil Oil in New Zealand. He built the only gas to gasoline project which involved taking natural gas and making gasoline.

My Dad is a perfect example of his work being a vocation. He was one of the best in his field. He was very well known in the industry and had an outstanding reputation. This was his calling and he woke up everyday looking forward to going to work. Even when he was retired he missed the business and desired to go back to work. Many people look forward to retirement and are happy they do not have to return to the job they had to go to for so many years.

My grandparents paid for my father’s oldest brother to attend Princeton to earn a degree in architecture and his other brother to attend Colgate to earn a degree in chemistry. Neither one of his brothers worked in the same field as their degrees. One of them became a photographer and the other one a contractor. When it was time for my father to attend college his parents did not have enough money so he joined the Army Air Corp. After the war he started working in the engineering field and worked his way from the bottom to the top.

People end up not enjoying their jobs may be because through the generations parents always hope their children have a better and easier life than they experienced so they encourage their children to...