Quotable

"For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord "plans to prosper you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

Just read this quote and thought it was pretty darn good: "Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you do with what you have left."

Thought this quote was fitting for the day......"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much." ~Mother Teresa

Two people near and dear to my heart (shoutouts to KTV and SRe) have been struggling in their jobs for quite awhile now. In their struggles they appropriately have turned to inspiring scripture and quotes (above). I kind of hold myself up as the friend you know who survived THAT job and lived to tell the tale. But I haven't been much help or hope to them considering I stuck it out for SEVEN YEARS. I think I'm now ready to write about it.

Two things have hit me this week that made me want to write this post: the second quote above and something that happened during my volunteer work this week. I'll conquer the volunteer moment first.

When I arrived for my first exciting day at the adoption agency (!!!), my leader as I shall call him asked me if I could make a brochure. Sure, I replied, though I'm probably a little rusty. Luckily as the details unfolded it turned out that I didn't have to come up with an original design and lay it out (they had 2 brochures that it needed to be modeled after and a company who would do the actual layout). So I needed to do the copy (the text) and pick some appropriate images and inspiring quotes. By the time I left that afternoon I had a complete draft accomplished. And it occurred to me on the way home that there are a lot of things I learned to do in my previous (hated) job I mentioned a few posts back. And you know that whole "baptism by fire" thing? Most of my skills I learned that way. Stressful, yes, but also a long learning experience in a lot of different areas.

Also this week my current boss complimented me on my ability to catch small ticky details in documents. Not so much something I learned in that job as much as something that was BEAT INTO ME. ;) About the time these two things made my lightbulb go off, then that second quote above hit. And I thought, ah, that is where I went wrong.

Why, you may ask, did you stay for SEVEN YEARS? Well, for one thing, I didn't see any other options available. I was married, had a house, and couldn't just walk. Two, they paid me well. LISTEN UP, KIDS: Not only can money not buy love, it cannot buy workplace happiness. It can dull the pain for awhile, but eventually it will not be worth it. Three, I was bound and determine not to screw myself over worse in my misery. My catch phrase became, "I'm not going to jump just to jump. I'll tough it out until a real option comes along." And thank the good Lord above it finally did.

But it's not important now to focus on the details of the bad. There are, however, some lessons gleaned. There are invaluable friends I made while working there. (Are you happy now, VV? Kisses!) That can never be taken away from me. If it wasn't for those individuals, I probably would have gone over the edge. I am thankful for all of them, and even more thankful that several of them remain in my life to whatever degree possible.

Here is the kicker, though. When stuck in a bad job, you must find a way for self preservation. The friends mentioned immediately above kept me from total misery (as did my friends and family who had to listen to me vent constantly), but I lost a piece of myself. Yes, I know that sounds dramatic, but it's true. Let me repeat: I LOST A PIECE OF MYSELF. And worse, I ALLOWED that to happen. I gave up. I withdrew inside. I went from an outspoken, intelligent person to a worker bee who found it easier to follow the status quo. In retrospect, I could always tell when I lost another worker to the same affliction. These young go-getters would also go from "Let's fight!" to "Whatever, just tell me what you want." So yeah, on one hand, I was not alone. But it took a year after leaving before I climbed out of the hole and started becoming me again. A year of recovery from losing a piece of myself.

So I challenge you. Find your self preservation and stay in the tough-it-out phase, or get out. You have to find your "What is it really worth?" point. For me, happiness equaled $7000 less pay. But what I gained, friends, is invaluable.