A to Z Theme 2016

For my 2016 A to Z theme I used a meme that I ran across on the blog of Bridget Straub who first saw it on the blog of Paula Acton. This meme is a natural for me to use on my memoir blog. It's an A to Z concept and it's about me. No research and nothing complicated. I'm given twenty six questions or topics to discuss that are about me.

In April I kept my posts short and uncomplicated. In the midst of it all you might learn a few things about me that you didn't previously know.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

A Lifetime of Working

Female workers in an H. J. Heinz can factory s...
Female workers in an H. J. Heinz can factory stamping out end discs (the discs that fit on either end of each can). From the materials for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909, held in Seattle. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

       A recent post at my blog Tossing It Out asked the question:  "What's the best job you ever had?".   As you might expect, a question of that nature can give rise to a great deal of reminiscing and remembering.  After all, work life and career is a major component of most of our lives.  In my post The Working Years I suggested that our time of working might be considered a specific stage of most of our lives.  Many of us spend so much time working or doing things related to work that I think the concept of a "stage of life" makes sense.

        When you examine the typical person with an extensive work history you can see how life in many ways is a build up to work, a stretch of time actually working, and hopefully some good years of retirement when what we've done in our work lives becomes a major part of who we are and what our interests continue to be.  Work and career often appear in a memoir or even becomes the focal point of a life story.

         Our childhood years are taken up with school years that prepare our minds and our sense of socialization to one day become good workers.  As children we dream of things we'd like to be one day and occupations that we might pursue.  This can change of course--and usually does--but still the dreams and the education are all part of the preliminary steps we take until we've made an actual job decision.

         Sometimes the job decisions are what is right for us while some are lessons in what we thought we might like and didn't.   A good many of our jobs are a matter of the necessity of making a paycheck to pay the bills.   How we approach these jobs makes the big difference in what we can get out of those jobs even if they are not part of the career path we are pursuing.   "Attitude is everything" is a philosophy that makes a lot of sense and is important to our sense of happiness and what we take away as gain from a job.

         Some of us start working when we're still kids--newspaper delivery, lawn mowing, babysitting, and so on.  This is great for having spending money early on, but more importantly the instilling of good work ethic and positive social interaction will usually have a big influence on the kind of workers we are throughout our lives.

        The very acts of looking for jobs, exploring career opportunities, and gaining necessary education can be the basis of many interesting memoir stories that can entertain as well as be helpful to others who might be facing similar circumstances as described in a story they are reading.

         If we consider that every job has value, our outlook towards work begins to change.  We might envy some workers without knowing that they hate their jobs.  Perception can play tricks on us that create misunderstandings about things we don't know enough about.  Unless we investigate a career thoroughly, we might step into what we consider a dream job only to discover that it's really a nightmare.   If nothing else, that's another good story as well as a learning experience.

        We might as well give opportunities a chance when they afford themselves to us.  Job-hopping has become the norm for most of us in the modern age.  With instability in the economy and job market, a working lifetime with the same company has become much less common than it once was.  Likewise, call it a restless spirit or short attention span or whatever else you like, many of us are ready to move on to a new job after a period of time.

           Jobs are as vital as they ever were, but the nature of work and the attitudes of workers have changed.  People want money and security, but they also want freedom and a certain degree of say so in their own lives.   I've spent a good part of my life working for others, but I was fortunate to have several jobs that I really liked.   I was also fortunate to have had a realistic and positive attitude toward most of my jobs.   When I didn't have that then I got out of what I was doing and found something else that suited me better.

           There is no such thing as the perfect job.  However there are some jobs to which we are very well suited and that makes a huge difference in how we look back upon those jobs when we no longer work at them.   Money is nice and even essential from a practical standpoint.  Great money is desirable.  In the end though, job satisfaction probably is the most important thing of all.  The way we feel about what we do has a strong bearing on the over all quality of our lives.

          Have you appreciated the jobs that you have had in your life?   What do you think are the qualities of an ideal job?   What would cause you to quit a job?

     

8 comments:

  1. I have appreciated my many jobs....they all taught me something. I was very lucky in CA b/c I had 2 jobs in law that were just fantastic with the best bosses ever. But when I moved to WA, I encountered some real jerk lawyers and between Aug 1999 and Mar 2001, I had 5 different law jobs. I left them b/c the attorneys were such assholes and treated me like crap. Then I landed my job w/ Steve in Mar 2001 and he was just the best. Stayed with him for 10 years. An ideal job is a flexible boss who treats the employees well and gives credit where it's due. The judges and legal community in Tacoma used to ask Steve how in the world he got everything done and done so well with his heavy caseload and he always said, 'my staff. I'd be dead in the water without them. They do ALL the work...they just hand me my files and tell me where to be and when!'

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    1. JoJo, You nailed one of the most important aspects of having a good work life. Employers who treat the workers right and a pleasant working environment are the main things in creating happy and loyal employees. We want to be fair with the people who treat us fairly.

      Lee

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  2. Money would make me quit. Specifically, inheriting or winning the lottery. Otherwise, at the moment I'm pretty much stuck where I'm at. I love what I do, but thoroughly detest the environment I work in (guv'ment employee), and so far, they've been able to squash my ability to move on to other things. But I'm slowly working on that issue and I hope to have better news in the coming months.

    Father Nature's Corner

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    1. GB, not much worse feeling than feeling stuck where you are. Hopefully, you'll get to a happier place in your work (or non-working in comfort) life.

      Lee

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  3. Hi Lee - having a variety of jobs can teach us so much ... also taking a professional qualification later in life can remind us it's not all roses ... I was pleased I'd succeeded, but really wasn't up to the task or interested in it. I don't like failing .. but flunk out I did.

    Funny old world ... and you've had some really interesting times .. cheers HIlary

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    1. Hilary, I'm the kind of person who likes variety in my life so I'm pleased that I've had a wide range of work experience. Others are more suited to the lifetime career though in our time the job that lasts our lifetime is getting more difficult to find.

      Lee

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  4. Attitude does make or break your spirit. If I could relive my life, I can't fault my opportunities, but I would have worried less and played more.

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    1. Ann, worry is a real joy-killer and ultimately bad for ones physical, mental, and spiritual health. I've worried a lot in my life, but at the same time I've tended to have a positive attitude and a belief that things would eventually turn out for the best and I think that's helped me tremendously. My parents were the same way so I think positive attitude is often a trait that gets passed from parents to children--not always, but much of the time.

      Lee

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Arlee Bird