Ruiz, thank you for a very thoughtful and perceptive post. I particularly appreciated the integration of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a means to unpack the John Burroughs’s passage because apart from understanding that the “secret” is in “doing something”, the measure or degree of that happiness, is directly proportional to what needs have already been met. Additionally, I agree with you completely as it relates to how the activity of work exerts itself upon a man’s state of happiness, and more importantly, what transpires in his heart when that work vanishes. Looking back to the authors text, Burroughs (1951) states “blessed is the man who has some congenial work, some occupation in which he can put his heart” (p. 5); therefore, to the leader, this is a call of understanding and action to supplant the threat of idleness in those we lead, helping them discover meaning through task or voice.
Matt
Burroughs, J. (1951). The Secret of Happiness is Something to do. In L. E. Watson, Light from Many Lamps (pp. 3-7). New York: Simon & Schuster.