With my wages I have built a home, there is food on our table, the children are growing strong. Moving on, you approach the third man with this same question. Each of these men is doing the identical task. Finding a personal meaning in your work opens even the most routine of tasks to the dimension of satisfaction and even joy. We may need to recognise meaning for the resource it is and find ways to pursue it and preserve it.
Meaning is the antecedent of commitment, and the original meaning of our work is service.
Restoring a sense of service to the practice of medicine will lead us to re.examine the process by which we become doctors. Our current training furthers our skills but not our wholeness. We are trained to value objectivity. We are taught to view a genuine human connection as unprofessional. But we cannot serve or find meaning at a dis.