How Vacations Affect Me

Thankfully, I've always liked my job.

No, that's not even true enough.  For years I LOVED my job.  And I was so thankful that I did.  I'd go to work and while my co-workers would be counting the hours (literally) until they could go home, or get on with what was their fun in life, I'd be saying, "I LOVE MY JOB!!!"  They'd look at me CLOSELY to see if I was being sarcastic.  I'd always say it in a way that they could never be quite sure whether I was or whether I meant it.  So they'd just look at me searchingly trying to decide.  I'd not say more so most of the time they didn't either.

I know that not every saved person has a job that they love, but I do believe being content inside makes any job better.  And I do believe when you have a satisfied soul, that a whole lot of life that is in many ways "miserable" can be handled with grace.   But, I just happened to be one who God graciously allowed to get a job that I love.  (I must add that the kindness of my brother took away the worries and concerns that would have come from making so little money at this job.  I started out at $5.85 an hour.)

This job just suits what I like to do for the most part.  And I have looked upon the parts of it that I didn't like as areas where "I need to grow" so I have considered those parts my blessings too.

One thing I learned early on was that when one person doesn't show up for work, it makes it harder for everyone else to get THEIR job done because it all had to be taken care of.  So if I'm not there, someone else has to do my job and their job too OR, if they leave mine, my job is harder to catch up when I get back.

Another thing I've learned is that NOT EVERYONE CARES about what kind of job they do.  Some of those people who are looking at their watches counting the hours are also slack in how they do the work that needs to be done.   Personally, I do NOT want people with that outlook taking care of what needs to be done in an area I'm responsible for.   I take pride in the fact that I keep my department up nicely and I hate to see the results of what others do when I'm away because they just don't care about how it's done like I do. 

I've worked for ten years now and not missed even one day that I've been scheduled to work.   If something happens and I'm going to be  late, I call and tell a manager so they will know why.  And when I'm there I do my job "as unto the Lord" with the thought that God is watching how I do it if no one else sees.  I'm not being paid to stand around and talk endlessly.  I'm not being paid to pass time just to get a pay check.  I'm being paid because they need me to do WHAT THEY WANT DONE the way they want it done.  (And the longer I've worked there, the more they have taken control of exactly how everything is done.)

I said all that first, to make another point.   It's not that I don't like my job.   But, whenever I take a vacation and I get away from it long enough to see how much more I could be doing in other areas of my life IF I DIDN'T WORK, I begin to think about how much I'd like to have more time for those things.

Of course, I knew that I wasn't working JUST BECAUSE I liked the job.  I really needed money.  My house and my car have been supplied for me, but there's still utilities, insurance, food, clothes, gas, gifts, and on and on and on... that require money.   So, I'd just be thankful that I have a job that I really like and apply myself to it diligenly.

When I LOVED my job, I'd say, "I'm going to be the next Miss Irene and work until I'm 84".  (Miss Irene shouldn't have quit then.  She died the year after she quit.   I think "customer service" was her life's blood.)   Anyway, I thought, why quit doing something you love to do?   But, my love turned to like as the pressures from up above increased and the requirements became more exacting and the stress level of my fellow employees began to grow and grow.   It has made going to work not as much "fun" as it used to be.

Now I'm thinking more of all I'd like to do that doesn't involve my job.  And, I am getting closer and closer to FULL retirement age.  Life flies by so quickly, I know it will be here before I've felt like I've turned around twice.   If things at work don't get worse than they are now, I would probably opt to go to part time and work a job that doesn't have as much responsibility as the one I am doing now.  But I am beginning to really look forward to having more time to do other things.

Vacations affect me like that.