Making work work for you

Note: as I read back through this post, I realized that I may have been ranting a bit…okay a lot. But I do think there are good tidbits hidden beneath the scattered thoughts that maybe interesting.

Because my job involves marketing and social media for our company I read a lot of articles from Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, Talent Management.com and Bloomberg News (just to name a few). Lately I have been noticing more and more articles related to job happiness; How Will You Measure Your Life?, How to do Well and Do Good, How to Keep Positive in a Gloomy Atmosphere, etc. etc.

Just like the Katherine Hepburn’s quote below, I firmly believe that it is a shame and a waste of your precious time to work somewhere where you are unhappy, feel unwanted or are just plan miserable. Now I am not saying that people don’t have to do things that they sometimes don’t want to do, what I do mean is that you should not settle for a long term job that is not fulfilling or at the very least a place where you enjoy spending 1/3 of your life. (True statistic. Very scary to think about.) I have been with the same company for two years now (I am a lucky girl) and I have seen first hand what happens when people put their minds and souls into getting a job that they want and feel passionate about! Believe me, people are getting jobs, it is just a matter of how you go about it. (More on this some other time.)

"If you have to support yourself, you had bloody well better find some way that is going to be interesting."
- Katherine Hepburn

In today’s economy most people feel like they do not have the leisure to be picky about a job offer, they are often just happy they have received an offer at all!  They may feel that this will be their only chance to secure an income so they desperately accept the position. When this happens people tend to turn on their automatic button…get up in the morning, go to work, come home, eat dinner, watch tv, go to bed, do it all over again and again and again.  They tend stop enjoying things they used to enjoy and begin developing bad habits and often people become depressed.

I have two thoughts for this type of person. First, I understand why people do this; I see them everyday at work, in friends and in family. The need to feel safe, secure and to provide for himself/herself or family, these are huge feelings that are not easily pushed aside. The thought that there may not be another opportunity to earn an income is scary and that thought is surfacing more often today than in a long time. For the sake of family, house and bills people more often have to take positions they would not otherwise think about taking in a good economy. 

Second, if you choose to accept a position that you know will not fulfill you then make sure you take the needed time to do the things that do make you happy.

Even though a I am lucky enough to have a great job that I enjoy, most of the time, there are still those moments, days, weeks, that I start to feel sorry for myself. I get “what if” thoughts that tend to take over my mind.

Common thoughts: Poor me, I don’t like sitting all day, its making my butt wide and flat, I don’t like being inside all day, I’m not getting enough vitamin D. I don’t like staring at a computer all day it is ruining my eyes. Poor me.

Remember, what makes us human is the ability to choose how we feel in each moment and circumstance in our life. “Are you a whiner or a fighter?” my mother used to say. It used to annoy the heck out of me till I started asking myself the same question when my mother wasn’t around.

We have options. Everyday we choose how we think someone else makes us feel, we think “they don’t like me”, “I’m ugly”, and “I’m not good enough”, “Why is he mean to me?” All of these thoughts that pass through our minds are choices. We can allow other people’s actions and words to impact us negatively or we can choose to turn it into something positive that could potentially benefits us. The choice is yours.

The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.
- Mother Teresa

It’s all about attitude!

"Work and Play are words used to describe the same thing under different circumstances."
- Mark Twain

Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.
- Margaret Young

These great quotes explain a solution to, what I believe, is a big problem, not only in corporate America but also in house holds. If we can learn to change our attitude to be thankful for all we have and focus on the positive side we can change a whole day or week. Simply by saying something nice to someone may have a big impact on that persons day. So go head and enjoy to today and be thankful for every little thing that happens because ultimately God’s hand is leading us through this life, so why worry, stress or struggle, simply live and love.

We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.- Carlos Castaneda

Sweater time yet?!

Sleeping with our patio door open is one of my favorite things about fall. The feeling of jumping into cool sheets and snuggling up with a good book (starting The Romantics for my book club) and burrowing my cold feet into a warm pair of socks leaves a comforting feeling nuzzled in my heart. The cool breeze that gently sways the curtains speaks of pumpkin spice and apple cider. It makes me wonder what the holidays would be like without the weather change, even if it just cools down at night here in the valley.

This year I am very excited about the holidays, especially Christmas! The last two Christmas’s we were living in an 800 sq ft apartment that left little room for a Christmas tree. This year I plan to splurge (a little) and get a tree that is bigger than 3 feet tall.

 

Our tree from last year, small but cute

Last year I wanted to have a desert Christmas tree, a tree that is native to Arizona, like a nice Cactus or a Polo Verde. When we went to search for one it was really difficult to find one that would support all the strands of lights I put on my tree. Side note: my mom taught me to decorate a Christmas tree properly… the lights are supposed to look like they are little candles, not just thrown on,  hiding the string is tough and time consuming but well worth it in the end. I may try to find a desert tree again this year, now that we have more space, but something about the smell of pine completes my holiday experience. Oh it will be so much fun to decorate the house!

I thought about buying decorations for other holidays but it just gets to be too much stuff! I think that a wreath for each holiday will do but beyond that I just can not bring myself to buy and collect containers and tubs to store all the decorations in. When I get old I will start decorating more. For now I plan to keep things simple and classic. A tree, a table runner, a few big bulbs hung from the window and pointseta of course and, if I had a fireplace I would certainly dress the hearth and hang the stockings. This blog has great ideas MovingDesignz Blog.

But enough about Christmas, lets live in the moment already! Halloween is just around the corner and I need to figure out a costume. I have a lot to live up to.

Last year my husband and I dressed up as robots. I won the costume contest in my family.

I have to say I ended up being a rather scandals robot, Mr. Robot was a little more conservative; I think that’s why I won. I will think about it and put up some great options.

For now, remember to sit up straight, think about your plumb line and have a good laugh about something today, go ahead and try :)