From Jeff: This is a guest post by Adam Rico. He is a corporate recruiter and career coach. You can read his blog “Work You Enjoy” and follow him on Twitter @adampaulrico.

There is an epidemic that has plagued our land for too long. It's a silent killer, and most don't realize it's curable. The culprit?

Doing non-creative work you don't enjoy.

I went to the company cafeteria the other day and one of the servers preparing my chicken sandwich muttered under his breath, “I guess this is what I get for being a history major.”

He went on to explain his frustration with his job and how he was dying to do something different and more creative.

It's an all too common story — feeling stuck in a job and settling for work that sucks the zest for life right out of us.

It doesn't have to be this way.

In fact, now more than ever, we need you to do work you love to do and express your creative genius. Here are three reasons we need you to unleash your creativity in your work:

1. We need your creativity to inspire us

Do we look at TPS reports from the last department meeting and become inspired to love more deeply and start a movement?

No. We are inspired by people who have created something beautiful.

Whether it's an artistic piece, a life lived well, or a socially conscious business venture we need you to inspire us. We need you to move us.

We need you to help us feel so alive that we want to do something extraordinary with our lives, too.

2. We need you to help a lot of people

Creativity can come in many forms. It isn't just limited to painting, writing or theater.

You can help a lot of people whether you're the mechanic who treats each car like a masterpiece to be restored or the cobbler who sees each pair of broken shoes as a canvas.

When you take your passion and creativity and apply it in a way that fills a need or solves a problem you'll help a lot of people and touch their lives.

3. We need you to live an integrated life

I've often wondered if people who are battling things like depression or anxiety would find some relief if they were given the opportunity to do creative work they loved to do.

I'm all too aware that these types of situations are complex and require more than one solution, but what about your situation?

It's likely that you're not in such a dire circumstance, but how would it change your life to do work that engaged your passions and dreams?

We need more people whose work life is consistent with who they are.

It's difficult to check our creativity at the door of the cubicle and then be an influential person full of love that others want to be around on evenings and weekends.

I had a hard time enjoying my chicken sandwich that day knowing it had been made by someone who was suffering from doing work they didn't enjoy.

If this epidemic were a physical malady like cancer or AIDS we would likely have foundations and marathons dedicated to curing it.

However, in this case we only have you.

Will you help us stamp it out? Will you take a step toward doing something you love to do? We're counting on you.

Further Reading: Five Essential Steps to Landing Your Dream Job (free eBook!)

What makes you feel alive? How can we help you do more of this? Share your dream in the comments.

*Photo credit: Flickr (Creative Commons)