Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Wanted: Joy in the Journey




When I was young I never really wanted to work a nine to five job so when I started working at the age of sixteen I was already going in with a bad attitude. Since then there has rarely ever been a time when I did enjoy the job I had at that time and that made things got from bad to miserable. Added to my attitude was the fact that most of the jobs I have ever had are ones I never wanted to step foot in to being with.

My first job was at “Peter Piper Pizza” which in retrospect not too shabby of a job. I got to eat free pizza and making pizza was fun. I did not care for the commute to Clearfield on the bus and generally did not want a job. Fast forward to after I graduated High School and I was working as a janitor at a local J.R. high school and really did enjoy what I did. I was able to give the kids a clean environment to learn in as well as having good people to work with. I had some “extracurricular” activates I enjoyed at the time and the environment allowed me to partake in that without issue. I also worked alone a lot which allowed me to work at my own pace and gave me time to think. Later down the road I ended up working for a telemarking company selling long distance to existing customers and then things you would see on infomercials.

This was in the total opposite spectrum of the job market I wanted to be a part of and yet, for the better part of thirteen years now I have been stuck in it due to being good at what I do and not having enough experience to do anything else (in the eyes of others). In this time I was able to be promoted at one job from a “Virtual Brand Advocate” to a “Web Community Manager” position.

I adored this job because it allowed me the ability not only to mostly work at my own pace, but also gave me much needed managerial and training experience. I also was able to mostly be to myself and yet at the same time, be social, it was a great balance. In addition to that I was able to use my imagination and give feedback which I really enjoyed. Sadly a simple mistake would lead me down back into the ranks of being on the phones, with a different company.

I am looking forward to exploring myself and my passion more in college because I am starting to get a picture of what brings me joy in the work force and I want to find and forge a path that will allow me to not only take care of my family, but also allow me to find joy in what I would be doing. This is important to me because I know I deserve better then to be stuck on the phones for the rest of my life!



1 comment:

  1. Keeping pushing! That is the only way. I remember wanting to work at the current company I am at now and tried for 4 years until I hard success. At one job I would look out the window thinking I would rather work in that train yard instead of on phones. I eventually was let go from that job (which was a blessing) and after two other jobs I landed what I wanted.

    Persistence, blessings, and putting out the thoughts I wanted to be reality is what I believe took me on that journey to this point.

    I know you will get what you want, cause you want it as bad as you need to breathe.

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