Benin and sellin'

In the last few months I was unable to write here, a lot has happened. This first post will focus solely on what has happened in the world of work ( names and places changed to protect myself and only myself).

During the last few months I've really had my nose tot he grindstone so to speak. There are a lot of issues that have been popping up at work that have caused me to put more of my effort in to those eight hours than anything else. But it has slowly been appearing to me that maybe this was not the best idea at all. For the rewards, I've hoped to reap have eluded me. Instead of seeing my glowing work ethic, I have been pushed around and bemoaned for minor things, have been asked to do things that have put my health at risk and been seen as a potential "trouble maker" when at one point I opened my mouth to say what I felt.

Lesson #1: Sometimes you don't always get what you want. However you do get what you need.

This culminated this week, when I realized that through no fault of my own, the powers at be saw it fit to inform me that they themselves had not realized that I was ready for a new phase. This caused me to inquire about why they believed I was not ready. The response was... It was a simple oversight. Of course this answer did not appease me but I let it go. Simply because i knew at that point that there was nothing I could do at that time.

Lesson # 2: Pick your battles wisely. Some of them you cannot afford to lose.

Now I sit, simply ruminating on the events of the last two months, trying not to let apathy take a foothold. I cannot allow these events to change the person I am , or to get me down any longer. Because if I did... I would not have anyone to blame for it but myself. If I allow it to take hold, pretty soon, I'd be looking for work.

Lesson # 3: Apathy is the not only the destroyer of hope, it is the destroyer of morality and common sense.

I have also realized that you do not and cannot derive your happiness from work. Even if you do enjoy what you do for a living at some point something will annoy you ( workmates, higher ups, the work environment). Yes it will make up at the very least 1/3 of your adult life. So it means that you must make that 1/3 of your life ( because we all waste 1/3 on sleep) that you are not at work the best time you can have. Spend it with your family and friends, those whom you love and love you.

Lesson # 4: Live your life, but make the time outside work really work for you. Quality beats quantity every time.

And don't let work get you down, at the end of it all, if you cannot do the job, they will have no problem finding someone who will.