Are you happy?

[Marsha Walker]

At your job? Are you supposed to be? Just wondering if Im supposed to be? Cause Im NOT! Thoughts?????

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

Find what you love to do, and make that your work. Then your work will be your play. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Michael Cacioppo]

You should enjoy what you are doing. For a longer healthier life don't stay in a job you are unhappy at. The reason we work is to make money to buy necessities and non essentials. If you can find a job that you enjoy that pays more than your necessities, go for it. You'll find that he non essentials, are mainly that; non essential. Most times non essentials are acquired to make us feel better after spending a crummy day at work. Marsha, life is too short, enjoy it, don't just pass through it.

 

[Gypsy me]

:unsure::blink::huh:



I've written many words about that very question and things that go along with it.



I agree with both Rodger and MikeC



What do you do Marsha?

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.



Having worked FT for about 20 years now, I seem to get into this rut of not liking my job after about 4 or 5 years into it. It seems I get as far as I can with a company, the newness wears off, and I start getting itchy. My current FT job is with a company I have been with for just over 3 years...and I am starting to itch.



The older I get the more I just don't want to work, at least not work for someone else.



Luckily I have a PT job working for my own company that I can and do fall back on for extra money, and job satisfaction.



R&G's advice is good and the only thing I might add is: Don't let your job define you, first and foremost a job is there to give you money to survive, but a job is not your life. Also, they call it WORK for a reason. If you enjoyed it all the time, well I guess they wouldn't have to pay you.



TJR

 

[Nelson Atwell]

I love my job. I may sometimes work long hours, and it may be stressful at times, but when I go home I know what I accomplished was important to the safety and freedom of this country.



I am in charge of a five person shop. Our purpose is to prepare and manage the deployment of personnel to any part of the World on a moment's notice. If I don't do my job properly, an Airman may be sent into the field unprepared to fight for our nation, and it could cost a life.



I don't make a million dollars a year like my brother, but I think my reward is better. There is nothing like the feeling of seeing your fellow Airman return safely from Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, or any other far flung place.



[Broken External Image]:

 

[BobPat Groves]

Work is never going to be a party, but it shouldn't be something you dread going to either.

It is something in the middle.

Very few people really work at something they love. What we love is our Savior and our family and how we interact with both of them.

I enjoy my job more days than hate it. So that is ok. But I don't have these great expectations out of it either. I go in and do the best I can do, and then return home to what I love.



What do I do for a living? I am a plant manager at a manufacturing facility, and I work 12 to 13 hours a day, 5 and 6 days per week and sometimes longer.



Remember only you can control your attitude towards something. Don't let others control your attitude.

 

[Marsha Walker]

Hello All,

Lets just say I am in the Construction Industry. I used to say I liked what I do but as I get older I know I am capable of much more.

P.S. Nelson--- THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY!!!!!!

Marsha

 

[Josh Langel]

I am in college right now, but I am currently working on what may be my first job. I am writing a screenplay for a film I will be producing and directing. Hopefully I'll make it to a few good film festivals and get recognition ... maybe shop my script around too.



Then again, I am in it for the art... but money is great too!

 

[Casey B]

Sometimes it's not about being happy. I believe everything happens for a reason or there is a purpose for it. I've worked numerous jobs and after a while I was bored, literally. "Labor" is not a factor for me. I can turn the most strenuous job into an excercise routine that benefits my health. I'm 32, a full time student (I know a little late), and I still don't know what I want to be. Many people work demanding jobs only to supply what they want and not what they need.



Find what makes you happy and do it. Life is too short not to. If you make less money it's worth it if you are happy.



KC

 

[EddieS'04]

Job wise I was laid off 3-6-05, and Iam happier now than I was..the place I was at for 36yrs, came under new ownership 5yrs ago...the way they treated folks kept getting deeper and harder..only problem is my pension is a age 62 system..Iam 56 almost.

I have enjoyed sitting on my butt for almost a year and turning down job offers when the phone rings..

 

[Tom Schindler]

I spent 9 years of my life with a suitcase packed ready to leave in a moments notice. I wore a chain on my side so whenever I was needed, I could be reached. I would work 20 to 40 hours at a time. I would spend hours, 300 feet in the air working without even a potty break. I traveled up and down the east coast working in everything from Naval shipyards, oil refineries, chemical plants, to power plants. It would not be uncommon to work 14 hours without a meal. Some days I would spend days with little to no sleep. I never felt that I had a life. It seemed I was always waiting for the next assignment. The job jeopardized my health, relationships, friends, and family. I could never go to weddings or parties, because I had to work. I missed two funerals of good friends I had that died. I missed concerts and my high school reunion. I hated that job.



I now have a job in a plant that allows me to refuse any and all overtime without any repurcussion. I don't have to work holidays or give up vacation time, if I don't want to. I love this job. My health has improved and I am not longer depressed like I used to.



Looking back on the prior job, I had a blast. I was able to walk inside of Naval ships, I learned about how a refinery refines oil into different fuels and oils. I know how paper is made. Complete from the chipping of the wood to the finished product. I was able to walk the US Naval Academy and even got to see the crypt of John Paul Jones. I was able to spend 4 days in Portland, ME because the drydock broke down while getting paid 8 hrs a day stand-by time for it to get repaired. I know how chlorine is made and what Titanium Dioxide is. I have spend many hours in a steel mill watching steel being made. I have seen race car tires being checked before the tires are shipped to the next NASCAR race. I know how those tires are assembled and cured. I have seen things many people will never see.



The company sent me as far away as Mannheim, Germany. They even paid for trips to see the Oktoberfest in Munich, the Frankfurt Auto Show, and 2 trips to visit my grandmother in northern Germany.



Looking back, the job wasn't that bad. It helped me develop into the person I am today.



Sometimes, it is best to step back and look at what your job is doing for you. Remember the good times you had. Reflect back on them. Forget about the bad stuff that gets you down. Life is too short to worry about those things.



If you can't remember the last time you had fun at work, then it is time to move on. Just make sure of one thing, it is foreward. Never jump out of the pot into a frying pan. Always make sure you look before you leap. You might find yourself wishing you were back in the old place.



As for the job I spent 9 years with, I would only go back if I had no other choice. I owe that to my family. If the job doesn't pay the bills, there is no need to even go there.





Tom

 

[mike oyler]

Very well said Tom.



Mike o

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

I am in the construction industry, not in the field, but I love my job.

 

[LaRue Medlin]

I the proud owner of a locksmith company here is SC. Three employees,, Me, Myself and I... Having the standard exceptions with my job being a PITA,,, I love it! For the first time,, I see that what I do really helps someone. Locked out of their car or home, standing in the rain, cold or extreme heat, I get them in. They loose their key, I make them new ones... After serving my country in the AF for 20 years, is feels good to serve my fellow man.

[Broken External Image]:

 

[Mark Grumpy]

If you can't remember the last time you had fun at work, then it is time to move on. Just make sure of one thing, it is foreward. Never jump out of the pot into a frying pan. Always make sure you look before you leap. You might find yourself wishing you were back in the old place.

Sound advice from Tom. I started a new job just last December 1. So far I really dislike it. Not nearly as fulfilling as my previous position. I'm military and over 20 years so I can quit anytime I like really. But, now I find myself realizing I made a mistake in switching and am apprehensive to do it again. This was supposed to be a step up, position wise, but it is boring as hell. I have to live with it now though.



So to answer your question Marsha, I guess if you need it to live the way you want to, you gotta deal with it. If you figure out what you want to do for the next X number of years and are lucky enough to secure a position then go for it. Just make sure it is what you think it is.



grump

 

[Chops]

Absolutely happy.

Playing with antenna designs, rf designs, circuits, towers....the stuff you use everyday but didn't know everytime you press 'talk' on your cell phone.



And as one of my hobbies as a radio amateur, I play with antenna designs, rf designs, circuits and towers.

 

[Kevin Long]

I absolutly love my job. I have been doing it for 17 years and still can't wait to go into work every day.

I know being happy at work makes for a long fruitful life, but the stress and shiftwork will kill me early, and that is an acceptable risk because I could not get more satisfaction from doing anything else in any field!

 

[Kevin Palmer]

My experience is like Tom's and Nelsons combined. Right out of high school I went to a "Unique" military unit. I got to do things that you could never be able to buy in your life time, (for the most part, some people can buy anything I suppose).



I made friends with the Royal Family from Jordan to been put in Jail in Israel, (no fun by the way). Been to 43 countries. Got to see things that will never be seen in pictures. Like the catacombs under the Vatican for example. There is art work there that does not exist in any books, drawings or anything that I have ever been able to find. It is a virtual museum down there. Literally, loose bones sitting in carved out areas. They don't know who they belong to so they have not moved them...



Most of this stuff was when I was younger and had no real obligations to anyone but me. Then I got married and slowed down a bit out of respect of my wife. Then had 2 beautiful girls. Slowed down even more out of respect to my family.



Many of you know what I do now and it keeps me more than busy. Technically, it is a high risk job by description. But no where near what I use to do as far as true and genuine risk goes. I fly 5 days a week, sleep at home at least 3 of those 5 days.



Bottom line, I would never trade off my early years in my career. They were unreal and irreplaceable. I got luck more than a few times on making it home safe. Even with those risks it was all worth it.



As I aged my obligations changed. It was not fair to my family to continue the path I was on. Need to make a change for them. Due to my training I was able to land a pretty nice job. We, as a family are very blessed and happy. Like any job, they all get to you. There will always be good days, bad days, and even worse days. But if you can get more good days then anything else then your doing something right...



You need to be happy and yet realize that you have obligations. The obligations will dictate to what degree you need to work. It will be hard to be a cashier at McDonald's and run a home with a wife and to children for example..



As we mature, so must our jobs (in most cases)..



So like the others said. You do need to be happy as best you can be. Sometimes you can't be. In those cases you plug along until you can make a needed change to get closer to the happy side of things....



Enjoy life and your family. You never know what tomorrow brings. There is not a day that I do not tell my wife and children that I love them walking out the door. One day, hopefully in the very far off future, I'll not come home.....



I want the the last words heard from me to them to be how much I care for them and how important they are to me....

 

[Fred]

I want the the last words heard from me to them to be how much I care for them and how important they are to me....

I always do that too. You never know when it might be your last chance to tell them that you love them.