How to Find One's Sustainable Joy? Part 1

Before the blog goes on to Step three of finding one's true identity, I thought I would address questions from my students that I believe is of great importance to many through the years of teaching in higher education. Some of my students asked me whether they should be actively looking for an internship, a permanent job, or starting their own businesses. My answer is usually all of the above. Receiving an offer for an internship, a permanent job, or funding for a new startup is not mutually exclusive. I usually encourage them to engage in an activity for a period of time before deciding whether such activity provides them with the sustainable joy most desired. I will use some real-life examples to demonstrate this idea of finding one's sustainable joy in their path of life. I will attempt to accomplish this in the following few weeks as I will provide a real-life example each week to avoid a lengthy weekly post.

Walter Orthman, Brazil

Walter breaks his own Guinness World Records every day as he holds the title of the longest career in the same company in the world. He was born in Brusque, a small town with a prominent German population. Due to his family's financial needs, he went to a job interview at the tender age of 14 and was hired due to his proficiency in German. He has been working at the same company for 85 years and 45 days on February 11, 2023. On 17 January 1938, Walter Orthmann started work as a shipping assistant at a textile company called Industrias Renaux S. A. (now ReneauxView) when he was fourteen years old. He worked his way from a shipping assistant, a lead in sales, to a sales manager. 

In the 85 years of working for the same company, he learned that changes are a constant in his company, his beloved Brazil, and the world. He learned that the reason behind his long tenure in the same company is how he always adapts to new approaches and up-to-date thinking. He prides himself in being able to apply this adaptivity to whatever contexts he was subject to. On April 19, 2022, Walter celebrated his 100th birthday and went back to work in his office for more than eight decades soon after.

People who interviewed Walter about his secret of being motivated to wake up in the morning and drive to his office every day for more than 85 years. He declared that "When we do what we like, we don't see the time go by." He further credited his career longevity in the same company with the strong belief of living in the moment. Walter said that "I don’t do much planning, nor care much about tomorrow. All I care about is that tomorrow will be another day in which I will wake up, get up, exercise and go to work; you need to get busy with the present, not the past or the future. Here and now is what counts." This belief seems to coincide with the first post (January 14, 2023) of this blog about Moon the humpback whale. It appears that both Moon and Walter have found their true identities and act without hesitation that supports who they are. May we all learn from their examples and find our own true identity. Next week, we will explore another example of finding sustainable joy in a well-known person. I encourage you to comment and follow my blog by clicking the blue follow button by my profile picture.

Jason Chen, PhD