Shrinking My Elephants

I wrote this essay for my English class and thought I'd share. :)

I believe that work is the best antidote for sorrow, frustration, and depression – whether it be work in an occupational environment, service, or exercise.

It was two days after Thanksgiving and while everyone else was in a festive mood, I was fighting tears. I stood at my register in a small grocery store, feeling as though the ground had been ripped out from under me. Instead of ending in a blissful food coma, my holiday had culminated in the finale of a relationship.

My throat was raw and sore from sleepless nights. My mind was restless. I absentmindedly straightened things on the counter – a stray pen, a stamp for checks, a stapler, and a stack of newspaper ads. I caught sympathetic glances from the two coworkers I’d chosen to inform of my situation.

As I rung up my first customers of the day, I barely managed a smile, and I looked in every direction except their faces. I worried that if I looked, I’d see the shards of my broken heart reflected in their eyes. I didn’t want to be vulnerable and I really didn’t want their pity. Nonetheless, as they ignored my body language and told me about their holiday, I couldn’t help but listen; and as I watched them walk out the sliding doors, I forgot myself, and I finally noticed the sunshine.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines work as an activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something. My personal definition of work has become anything that gives me purpose and focus so I don’t dwell on the negative. Thankfully, my job not only does those things; it also brings me joy.

On that difficult day after Thanksgiving, I didn’t want to go to work. Being in front of people for seven hours straight was the last thing I expected to help me, but it worked miracles for my heart and my spirits.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve gone to work with a bad attitude and come out feeling on top of the world. It’s truly a divine principle that when we lose ourselves in any cause, our personal troubles seem smaller. I tend to dwell on worries the size of ants until they grow to the size of elephants. Work helps me gain proper perspective and see things as they really are. Work also brings me feelings of fulfillment and success, which battle my insecurities until my heart is conquered.

Bishop H. David Burton made this profound statement in his talk The Blessing of Work: “Today, many have forgotten the value of work. Some falsely believe that the highest goal in life is to achieve a condition in which one no longer needs to work.” For the majority of my life, I was one of those people. Thanks to my new job and many attitude adjustments, I’ve come to see work as it really is: the shrinking of elephants.