Something to Ponder.....

Since I'm about to fall out of my chair in complete & utter boredom, I figured I would blog about a subject that my husband and I have been talking about a lot lately. And that question I guess is this: Is anyone ever truly HAPPY about their job/work?

Here's my theory on this one. I think that some jobs fit people better than others. And if they are lucky enough to find the right fit, then there is definite potential to be happy in a way in the job. There are so many factors that deal with job satisfaction that in reality, it would take quite a combination to make someone 100% happy all the time with their job. However, I like to think that over 50% would be nice since my current situation makes me happy WAY less than 50% of the time. Which is why I'm trying to find something that works out better for me. And in evaluating what I DO want in a new job, I have been thinking about what makes me so unhappy in my current situation.

First of all, I have always been and will probably always be very focused, very career-driven, very much wanting to be accomplished and successful. Not success & accomplishment like being famous or super rich (although those things might be nice). Just successful in my own mind - like the things that I do with my life give me some purpose and are reflective of the person that I am and want to be. For that reason, when I feel like I am in a situation where I have hit the ceiling and there is nowhere else to grow and nothing else to learn, I feel trapped. I would want nothing more in the world to find a company that I can grow with, to find a place to establish a career instead of just a job. To know that the more I learn, the more opportunities that lay in front of me instead of thinking that if I keep learning too much and too quickly, I will have nothing else left to do with myself. I like to be challenged, not bored. I like to have things to do, not just sit on my butt and stare at my computer and blog all day (although fun, not really what I want to be 24-7). I want to make enough money to be comfortable but not too much that my life revolves around it. I want to have the ability to go to the doctor and not stress about how to pay for it and to be able to take a vacation and know that the money I'm spending on the trip and while I'm there will be made up still by my paycheck. I enjoy these aspects of working. I look forward to the perks but sometimes they are not enough.

Today's society is so focused on money that it is sometimes hard to break out of that mold. It's all about how much you make and that determines where you live, what kind of car you drive, what kind of clothes you can afford, what kind of trips you can take. Just how your life goes in general. And you have to have the desire to want those things and to be willing to work to get them because as much as money is required, it is not handed out freely. Yeah there are the Paris Hiltons of the world that have their lives handed to them on a silver platter and can just do whatever they want and still have money and a livelihood. But the rest of us get to work to make enough money to get to do the other things we enjoy.

There are many things that can make you happy or unhappy with a job, but it still doesn't have to run your life. It is something that is necessary - each day of the week we get up and go to work and for that we make money and have two days off to enjoy it. And evenings. Or if you have a different schedule, you still have time off to enjoy. The problem is that most of us get so caught up in work (bad days, problems with the boss, problems with co-workers, etc.) that we ruin our downtime which could be so good and which we should be looking forward to by being antsy and upset about what we've already gotten past. It is my resolution to try to let this stuff lie when I leave this place each day and not worry about it again until I walk back through these doors. Some days I may not be able to control, some days I may have to work really hard to control it, but for the most part it is my goal to look forward to my time outside of work and enjoy it to the fullest. Because you never know when it's going to be gone......

Austin sometimes questions his job. We have talked about it a lot trying to figure out what the deal is. But he is young and it's a harsh reality when you've just graduated to think that EVERY WEEKDAY OF YOUR LIFE YOU HAVE TO GET UP AND GO TO WORK AND EAT AND WORK OUT AND DO ALL THESE OTHER THINGS THAT YOU WANT TO DO BUT WORK GETS IN THE WAY. It's depressing frankly. And yet if you really think about it, it's not really just HIS job that is that way, it's any job. He makes good money, decent hours, good benefits, TONS of opportunity for growth and advancement and raises. It's a good situation - it just takes getting used to the fact that work is work and we all have to do it whether we want to or not. So in reality, we should just be grateful for what we have, seek improvement as needed, and cherish the time OUTSIDE of work that we have and make it the best we can. That's just my two cents but I thought I would share it with you all this afternoon because at least it wasted 30 minutes of my long day. :)