You Can’t Take it With You

A few years ago I was in a job that I hated. Between my manager’s antisocial behavior and the long hours, I was always on the verge of getting up and walking out the door. I thought that all I had to do was get a new job and I’d be happy. Only when I did get it, the new job turned out to be the same as the old job. The same issues cropped up over the excessive hours, unsupportive managers and work that no longer stimulated me. Thinking that if I changed my job, all my problems would magically disappear, I went from one frying pan to another.

Running away only temporarily solved the problem. I was one of those people who complained to anyone who’d listen about how terrible my current job was. Unfortunately when you complain about your job, you can usually find others happy to add their issues to the mix. You complain, they complain and in the end, nothing has changed.

It was a while – a long while – before I accepted that whatever discontent I had inside myself, I brought to each new situation. Not to say that what goes on around you won’t have an effect on you. It’s just that I learned I couldn’t wait until I had the perfect manager or the perfect job in order to feel good. I had to start with myself.