Work is Just Work

I observe people as they come to work. Most of us are just here for the paycheck. Direct employees hang in for their excellent pensions and benefits. But for some people, this is their LIFE. They come to work all fired up and dead serious. They have an inflated view of their importance and they play office politics in earnest. It's amusing in a way, watching their gait as they walk through the hallway, like they're headed for a meeting with the president. Then in meetings, these "company people" are super-intense and sometimes verbally abusive to people who they feel are their underlings.
I was sitting here calmly at my desk early this morning and I could hear two people coming down the hall involved in an animated work discussion. One of them was talking like the subject was nuclear disarmament when, in fact, it was about someone doing their paperwork.
I may have been intense at some point in my career. I remember talking about a "sense of urgency" regarding projects and feeling that everyone involved should have it. I took my work home with me too, thinking that I was doing work of value and lasting importance. Thank goodness I transcended that phase.
I'm not saying that work isn't good and I believe that we should always do our best in whatever we undertake. What I believe, however, is that our jobs are a very small part of who we are. To give work your "all" is to diminish the really important parts of your life - love, family, and friends.