One of my brilliant mastermind peeps shared a quote with me several months ago that keeps floating around in my brain.
She hit me at a perfect moment. I wish I could remember exactly what the moment was, but I don’t. I do remember that in whatever I was doing, the results weren’t showing up the way I thought they would.
This is the quote:
“Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself. You gradually struggle less and less for an idea and more and more for specific people. In the end, it is the reality of personal relationship that saves everything.” – Thomas Merton
There is a lot in there, and I’m still digesting it all. I have never looked up the context from which it was excerpted, but I don’t think it’s necessary. The words apply to all work that involves emotional labour.
The entire quote speaks to personal attention and following another persons lead. To customize and to care more about the other than your own agenda.
But the first 2 sentences constantly pop in and out of my thoughts on a regular basis.
“Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect.”
Then he goes on to talk about doing what’s right and the truth of your work.
Here’s the thing.
Results matter only to us because they validate us, but emotional labour is deep work, and deep work doesn’t bring immediate reactionary change… you don’t want it to because that brings chaos and slows everything down.
Emotional labour creates change, and the results show up in the ripples.
Those ripples are subtle, but extremely profound.
It might be a new way of seeing, a new way of responding, or an inner peace that wasn’t there before.
It might be a moment where someone joins your team, becomes vulnerable, asks a new question, or shows some trust.
They bring a shift, and you can’t predetermine how long it will take or if it will happen.
All you can do is the right thing and hope for the best.
Without results you can keep moving forward with the truth and rightness… but without hope you won’t.