<h2 id="17f7210d-922f-4507-be9d-c8460cb99700" data-toc-id="17f7210d-922f-4507-be9d-c8460cb99700" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">90,000 Hours Later — Are You Actually Thriving? Part 1</h2>I was 66 years old at my granddaughter's seventh birthday party, and I decided to skate.I figured it would be like riding a bike — something you never forget how to do. I was wrong. I skated, fell, got up, skated some more, fell again, got up again, skated a little more, and fell a third time. That time I didn't get up. Broken leg. Surgery. Seven months without walking or driving unassisted.And seven months without work.That last part is what surprised me most. I thought the hardest part of that season would be the physical recovery. It wasn't. The hardest part was the empty feeling that showed up once the work was gone.<h2 id="c4e9d5f5-80a6-4c46-ae00-507ec5dfdc3a" data-toc-id="c4e9d5f5-80a6-4c46-ae00-507ec5dfdc3a" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">The Hours We Spend Working</h2>Google puts the average person's working life at 90,000 hours. I think the real number — once you count housework, yard work, budgeting, volunteering, and everything else we call "work" — is much higher. Whatever the number, one thing is clear: you will spend most of your life working in some form.That's a lot of hours to spend feeling drained, stuck, or purposeless. And according to recent surveys from Gallup, Pew, and AEI, that's exactly how a lot of people feel — only 20-27% of workers say they're actually thriving.So what separates the people who are thriving from the people who are just getting through it?<h2 id="e6fee4fa-eb45-42fb-afe1-a643939169bb" data-toc-id="e6fee4fa-eb45-42fb-afe1-a643939169bb" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">It's Not the Work. It's the Lens.</h2>Timothy Keller and Katherine Leary Alsdorf, in Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work, argue that a biblical understanding of work changes how we experience it. That's good news, because most of us can't simply swap out our job for a better one. What we can change is the lens we look through.Here's the foundation of that lens: God worked first.Genesis 2:2 tells us, "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing" (NIV). God wasn't lacking anything — He didn't work out of need. He worked because work itself was good, and when He finished, Genesis 1:31 says He "saw all that he had made, and it was very good" (NIV). Work, done well, produced satisfaction — even for God.Then Genesis tells us something that changes everything about how we see our own work: God made us in His own image (Genesis 1:27) and gave us work to do (Genesis 1:28). When you work, you're not just filling hours or a bank account. You're doing something God-like. You are an image bearer, doing the kind of thing your Maker does.<h2 id="4e0e3bcb-a900-4752-8c27-7f6619f60446" data-toc-id="4e0e3bcb-a900-4752-8c27-7f6619f60446" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">What I Learned From Losing My Work</h2>When my psychology practice ended, the burden of work disappeared. So did the blessing. I was home, mostly alone, bored, and — for the first time in decades — unsure of my purpose. I needed the work back, not because I needed the money, but because I needed to do something God-like with my hours.That discovery is what eventually led me to start my coaching practice. But the lesson came before the solution: work isn't just something we endure. It's something we were made for.<h2 id="4df1fda6-d5c4-405e-9267-ae2c04e1f019" data-toc-id="4df1fda6-d5c4-405e-9267-ae2c04e1f019" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">A Question Worth Journaling</h2>You may be tempted to think, "There's nothing God-like about my work." I'd encourage you to look anyway. Somewhere in your job, your housework, your caregiving, or your volunteering, there's a piece of creating, providing, ordering, or serving that mirrors the God who made you. Try journaling about it this week — you may be surprised what you find.What's one word for how your work makes you feel most days — drained, stuck, purposeless… or something better? I'd love to hear your thoughts. You can share them with me by <a target="" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.hpaulstanleycoaching.com/contact-dr-stanley/">clicking here</a>.<hr><h2 id="ba0d84c4-1cec-4df3-836e-1ef67b93d363" data-toc-id="ba0d84c4-1cec-4df3-836e-1ef67b93d363" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">Did you find this helpful? Would you like more — but not too much more?</h2>Once every two weeks, I send a short, practical article focused on living a less stressful, more abundant life — helping you maintain life balance and grow mentally, physically, spiritually, and socially over time. You can subscribe by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hpaulstanleycoaching.com/stress-relief---life-balance-news-tips-opt-in/">clicking here.</a>

Only 20-27% of workers say they're thriving. A broken leg, an unexpected retirement, and a biblical view of work taught me why — and how to change your lens.

90,000 Hours Later — Are You Actually Thriving? (Part 1)

90,000 Hours Later — Are You Actually Thriving? Part 1

Did you find this helpful? Would you like more — but not too much more?

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90,000 Hours Later — Are You Actually Thriving? (Part 1)

90,000 Hours Later — Are You Actually Thriving? (Part 1)

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