For the longest time I’ve questioned it and haven’t been able to shake the uneasy feeling in my gut when I punch that time clock. I’m sure you feel the same. Eight hours a day we slave away to a boss we can’t stand at a job we’re not happy with all to pay the bills and feed our families, but are we doing the right thing? Everyone has needs, necessities, and goals but have we lost sight of what it means to live?

 

As we grow older we are forced to face reality for what it is. We are tossed into the world and scramble to find work.  We are given no rule book or guide to success therefore we accept the jobs we can find.  Even if we are lucky enough to find a stable full-time job that pays the bills you may still find yourself coming home angry and waking up depressed.  What can you do but carry on punching?

Punching that time clock isn’t always so bad, providing the things we need, however as people we yearn for more.  We are individuals with individual passions, talents, and capabilities yet we continue to work jobs that don’t embrace our uniqueness.  We punch time clocks and complete remedial tasks for little pay so someone who followed their passions and created the business can fatten their pockets from our work. We toil while they cart around playing golf or throw back brews on their yachts.

What have these people done to achieve this position?

It’s all very simple; as strange as that sounds.

 Find your passion and focus on it everyday.

via GIPHY

It sounds so stupid but embracing your passions may lead you to a much better job and a happier life. Every business started out as a dream. It might not work out but it could and that’s the point. That’s the lesson we need to teach our children. If you never try you’ve already failed. Why not try and see what happens? If you find your passions, follow them, and PUT WORK TOWARDS THEM EVERYDAY it’s only a matter of time before you will achieve something.

Let’s face it most jobs today flat out suck and we are not happy with them. It’s not our fault. A lot has changed. There are no ladders to climb or promotions that are really promotions. Jobs have lost their societal construction and the community vibe. Years ago companies had softball teams and cookouts -creating a community in the work force- which made the job worth participating in. Companies created almost families, respecting hard workers, and did everything they could to repay them. Everyone from CEO to lowly stock clerk knew that the work they put in should be nothing less than their best because it translated to better business -which meant in turn increases in pay, better insurance, etc- and the gains were shared. Now companies have turned employees into numbers and separated themselves from any communal structure. Today we are nothing more than files to the company no matter how hard you work which has translated into shitty business, shitty customer service, and shitty dispositions. You can sweat and toil for years, even decades, only to find yourself no better off than other workers who barely function and receive the same treatment as you. Sounds fair; right?

So what should we do?

Should we stop caring and snail along like the lazy coworker?

Should we continue to bust hump hoping one day it will all pay off?

“Not I, ” says this guy.

via GIPHY

For nearly a decade I slaved myself to a company that never cared about me. Yes the job afforded me living and necessities, but it never made my family or me happy.  All those years I worked the night shift; the dreaded, wretched, shift that eats souls and spits out profits for a higher hand. For all those years I was forced to leave my wife home alone in our bed at night. That was enough to make we want to quit. Then there was the sleep schedule that literally never existed. I slept when I could most days, and crashed through others completely. I never had any time for a real life of my own.  My son suffered most from my shift; missing me at baseball games and school events because I was too tired. That was the hardest part. The toil on my family life.

Any shift work job interferes with your happiness if you are unhappy in your work. The day you are unhappy in your work is the day you no longer belong there. I mean truly unhappy. When it fills every facet of your being with bitterness you should leave. So what do you do? Obviously you can’t just quit, and must have some form of income. Finding another job may only replace the unhappiness from the previous one. You can continue the repetitive cycle or you could spend some time thinking; for free. Think about what makes you happy. There is some form of job that to you would be fulfilling. Really focus in and do some research. With technology and endless information at your finger tips you have NO REASON not to.

Escape.

A little thought on what you love -be it a craft, music, or even writing- and the possibilities are endless if you put time and effort into learning about it’s industry. Instead of giving all your energy to a nine to five give some of it back to yourself and who knows what it could bring you. You may never achieve fame or a full time job doing what you love, but you will never know until you try. Hell, everyone who has made it started right where you an I are now.

 

N.N.