Would you come to work if you weren’t getting paid?

My husband and I recently saw the movie “The Intern.” We settled in to watch Rober DiNiro in his role as a senior citizen intern at a tech start up. (Spoiler alert – I’m going to talk about a few things that happened in the movie – nothing that will ruin it for you – more background information.)

In the beginning of the movie, DiNiro’s character describes his life as the active life of a widower who gets up each day and gets out of the house. He is someone with lots of friends and a place to go to for coffee and to read the paper. He seems very comfortable money-wise so that doesn’t seem to be an issue.

Yet something is missing in his life. You guessed it – he goes in search of his very own Professional Paradise (my description – not the movie’s producers – haha). He misses the thrill of putting on a suit and doing the work. He actually misses it so much that he’s willing to go back as an intern despite his many years of successful experience.

And interestingly enough, on the flip side of this coin, all across the country many folks go to work every day and count down the days until retirement (literally – on calendars with big X’s). Are you one of those people? They long to trade in the constraints of work for the freedom of no schedules, lots of free time and no one telling them what to do.

Is this a simple case of one man’s need to find meaningful work or is there something more substantial to our connection to our jobs?

You can watch the movie, think about your own experiences with work and decide for yourself. This movie reminded me that it’s a privilege to go to work and serve others. It’s a privilege to create new ideas, solve problems and feel emotionally connected to your job. What a great reminder that when you purposefully connect to what makes you feel satisfied, energized & productive the benefits of work far out weigh the challenges.

Sure golf, lunch with the guys and leisurely reading the paper sounds like Paradise – but maybe we can find that same sense of Paradise at work right now. Click here to read the full article that was created by The Wall Street Journal, which in addition to the movie inspired this month’s topic of discussion.