“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” – Steve Jobs

I already shared a post about what my future holds, in terms of work as an occupational therapist. However, I haven’t quite finished my education yet, and in the meantime I find work wherever I can – that is, I fill my time with anything and everything productive. Much of my work does not involve a paycheck and is on a volunteer basis. This typically is my favorite work of all.

I thrive on being busy. When I’m bored I feel useless! My work is what keeps me functioning. Especially when dealing with chronic illness, it can be very easy to not make plans, stay on the couch all day, and complain about what hurts. Although I fall into this cycle at times, I know that for my own good, I have to stay busy and find things to keep me active. This is probably why I’ve made up a lot of the work I do. By creating programs or asking someone if they need my help, I can choose work that makes me happy, and helps others. What I get back from helping others, is so much greater than what I give.

Of course, my favorite job is taking rabbits and chickens to the hospital for sick kiddos to pet…

Sometimes my work involves dressing up like a horse and teaching kids about how they communicate… Ok so I did this by choice.

This is a curious horse…

One day it was bringing my real horse to a non-food Easter egg hunt for kids with food allergies…

Handing out samples of gluten-free food…

I also do a lot of fundraisers. For this one, I decided to bring my dog to work with me… (I love this job).

and I enjoy climbing on the playground slide, armed with a bunny rabbit at the Ronald McDonald House.

So, as you can see, although most of my work has to do with kids, animals, and food allergies, I have a lot of variety and it’s all so much fun! If you are looking for something to do to get out of the house, or find work you enjoy, visit a small non-profit that you are passionate about and help!

What is your favorite kind of work? Is it on a volunteer-basis, or are you lucky enough to do it for your full-time job?