You could call them the “ion’s” of life.  They are gratification, satisfaction and fulfillment.  Oh, sorry.  The last doesn’t seem to fit my cute threesome of “ion’s.”  Although it is a part of the list it has a kind of cement-ending to it as though there’s a completion.

That’s the problem here.  All three words do fit together but the first two can’t achieve the cement of word three.

Gratification is instant and satisfaction is fleeting.  Fulfillment has a sturdy sound that fulfills what it means.  Christians would reward fulfillment to the visitation service our family will hold for us while we’re horizontal (with candles on each side of us) while they are all vertical and chatty.  That makes it too easy to dismiss fulfilling fulfillment from our lives and postpones its happy rewards in this life.

Fulfillment is now.  More than a fleeting feeling or an instant taste, fulfillment slowly becomes an attitude until it then becomes a value until it then becomes cemented throughout our lives.

We treat ourselves to ice cream on a hot summer night, gratified until the next hot night appears.  We receive a compliment for a job well done on a project and we feel satisfied until we make the next mistake.  Fulfillment’s cement is what carries us through all the parts of our lives – relationships, work and personal stuff.  In our occupations it does not matter (actually it does matter) what it is but what we bring to it each day – our gifts, passion along my two favorites words, meaning and purpose.  Each task completed with a known purpose and meaning dismisses the two “ion’s” and embraces the cement that captures, captivates and causes creativity.  (Five “c’s” in one sentence!  I’m getting the hang of this writing stuff.)

My job gratifies and satisfies me as far as it can, usually a two hour lifespan.  The fulfillment of my work – in meaning and purpose – carries me through a lifetime.  It also makes getting up in the morning a little easier.