A Big Chunk

 

Between getting ready, commuting, being at the office and talking/thinking about it, I would conservatively say at least 50% of our typical day has something to do with work.  That’s a big chunk of time.  If one invests over ½ of their time into something, why in the world would they do something they “hate?”  Yep, I used the “H” word.  Very seldom will you hear me use it, but in this case, I am repeating a very common word used when people talk about their jobs.  I hate my boss, I hate the commute, I hate the hours, I hate the location, and I hate my coworkers.  Geeze, that even makes me uncomfortable to write the “H” word that many times, yet I hear those very things weekly.  When you ask why they stay at a job they hate, you get answers like, “the money is great…I’ve been there so long that I can’t afford to leave…”  In the words of the old joke, “so now we’ve figured out what you are, it’s a matter of negotiating price…”

Let me see if I can wrap my simple mind around this one.  Someone gives more than 50% of their time, the one thing that cannot be replaced is our time, to an activity that just puts them in a mood and pisses them off to high heaven?  We also cannot forget bringing home the nonsense from work and complaining about it so now you have the negative crap in your house and around your family too.  Yes, I’m being sarcastic.  I get it.  We all have rough days at the office, but those rough days should be the exception rather than the norm.  If you dread getting up and feel yourself shifting to a stinko mood, as you get closer to the office, you really need to take some serious time to reflect on your job. 

I am extremely blessed to be in a position to somewhat work when the work is there and play when it’s not.  I had to make the hard decisions on my priorities in life.  Being a contractor, means getting paid when there is work and not where there isn’t.  It was an eye opening adjustment.  There have been months where I only billed two hours and months where I billed close to 200 hours, and both instances were good for me.  That’s just part of the decision I’ve made, and I would do the same thing again. 

Each day, we are given a 24-hour chunk of time.  How we define and use that time is up to us.  If the “H” word is popping around in any part of it, maybe it’s time to reevaluate.