Tuesday, January 02, 2018

Happiness Is A Inside Job


I did something I have not done in almost 20 years, I took the week between Christmas and New Years off and stayed home.  The norm has been either take the week off and travel, or go into the office in the strange quiet days between the two holidays.  It was nice to take the days off.  I spent the first couple of days of it in bed with a virus, body aches and a quickly emptying digestive system.  Then I settled in and enjoyed the break.  I am still not ready not work full time, but it was nice to have a few lazy days.  

It will be nice to be back to the routine of work.  I like work, I look forward to Mondays and taking on the challenges of the work. Liking work, looking forward to Monday's is a matter of attitude, it is up to me to control, not something I can rely on an outside source or my employer to provide.  

A friend of mine was fired, by text message, between Christmas and New Years.  The text was something along the line of "we have changed the schedule and you are no longer on it."  She was pissed.  It was a crappy way to let someone know you are letting them go, though I don't know as there is a good way to do that.  (I met a guy on an airline flight one time, whose sole job was to fire corporate executives.)  

She would like an answer to why she was no longer on the schedule.  I am going to venture a guess, her attitude about her work.  A couple of times per week she would arrive at work, and immediately post of Facebook how miserable she was being back at work. Maybe she was not feeling well, maybe she was tired, but it was obvious that she would sooner not be there.  Even if her employer didn't read her Facebook postings (and yes employers do read your Facebook postings,)  even if she didn't verbalize at work that she was miserable being there, the attitude shows.  It is no fun working with someone who does not want to be there, someone who is unhappy.  I have worked with people who were brilliant and competent, but miserable, they are no fun to be around, given a choice I would sooner not work with them.  

Find happiness in what you do.  My happiness is not my employers job, happiness comes from inside me.  I am grateful and happy for the job, for the opportunity, for economic security, for the routine, and for the challenges.  A long time ago I was whining about the challenges of my job, "Wild Willy" my boss at the time, looked at me and said, "if it was easy I could hire someone cheap to do it, I hired you because you are capable of fixing it, and I pay you well, be grateful for the challenges."   

Are you looking forward to going back to work this week? 

4 comments:

  1. Very happy to not have to go to work anymore. My last employer was a nightmare. Abusive. Unappreciative. Calling at all hours. I was also paid well, but there was no way to find happiness in that job and the economy was awful so finding a new one wasn’t a reality. Not everyone is lucky enough to have employment that can be turned into lemonades. That being said, people should appreciate that if they want or need to keep their jobs, they can’t be making snide comments about their employers on social media. Jeez!

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  2. uh, yes and no. no more holidays til memorial day. no boss this week. it will be slow getting started. no more mid-day naps. but I would rather be working than unemployed.

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  3. I love my work. Thanks for reminding me to start with an optimistic outlook.

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  4. They read my posts... Well, that explains why they were so happy to grant me early retirement.

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