Why I Do What I Do

This is something that has been running around in my head for a while.

Here it is...

I want you to stop and think a moment before you answer the question I pose because you really need to take a good look inside yourself before you respond. The obvious answer to the question, "Why do you work?" is because you need the money. But what else compels you to do what you do? Maybe it's because it's interesting or fun or challenging or because it's what you went to school to learn. But WHY do you do what you do for work?

I have two little "stones" on my desk that I look at all the time which are my answer to the question. "Remember" and "Compassion". I am a probate paralegal because it pays the bills but what really makes the job satisfying for me, emotionally and spiritually, is that it allows me to empathize with others and help them through a difficult phase of their lives. "Remember" that the paperwork I do eases the load from someone else's shoulders, that the person listed as "decedent" was a real person who had a real life with family members and friends who are feeling pain. "Remember" that my experience, knowledge and skills are assisting those family members and friends. Mostly, "remember"
that "compassion" is more than just a word - it's an attitude in my job. Feel it for those involved. "Remember" that I, too, have once upon a time been in their shoes and wish I had met people who treated me with "compassion". I strive to be the kind of person I would like to have on my side during such a terrible time in my life.

I am very good at my job. But when I first took my job I was told that eventually it wouldn't bother me to read obituaries and that I wouldn't think of the files as anything but paperwork to be done. I made a promise to myself that because of my beliefs, my faith, my commitment to being the best person I can be, I would always "remember" and have "compassion".

There isn't a single obituary that crosses my desk that isn't read in its entirety. There isn't a single day I do not shed a tear for at least one of them even if I didn't know the individual. I am human and I feel. I "remember" and carry that "compassion" into my job. It does not make me weak. It makes me strong for those I am helping.

Yes, I work for a paycheck - a good paycheck. But I also work so that those I help know that they are not the only ones who "remember" and that there is "compassion" out there for them.

The day I stop feeling "compassion" and I don't "remember", I don't want to be a probate paralegal. More importantly, I won't deserve to be a probate paralegal.

Why do YOU do what you do?