Work: Love What You Do
Or be miserable most of your life.
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It has been said that those who love their work are the luckiest and happiest people in the world. I believe that is true.
I have not been good at staying at work I did not love. If doing the job didn’t give me a feeling of accomplishment or satisfaction, or in some way enhance my life, I didn’t stay. Even if it meant I’d have to worry about how to pay the bills, I left anyway.
I’ve had to take some jobs I hated in my life, but I’ve never been able to stay with them for very long. My daddy was an old union man and had strong opinions about work and employers treating employees with fairness and respect. His attitudes had a lot of influence on me as I became an adult. As a result, I’m out of there if I perceive I am not treated fairly, and no effort is made to resolve my issues.
The truth is, I often felt the employer or the “Company” was the enemy. I had a terrible attitude toward some kinds of work including fast food, convenience stores, retail sales, and more. Even as a high school kid working this job and that I often rebelled.
I’ve been retired for over ten years. I only work for myself on my writing now. The majority of my work life included jobs in two types of careers — both of which I loved.
I probably loved law enforcement most of all, followed closely by newspaper reporting. I covered crime and government, and the two jobs were more closely related than they appeared. I’ve told people they are the same thing.
Street cops bust ordinary folks, and reporters bust bigger fish. I was an investigative reporter — always wanting more of the story, looking behind the scenes, and wanting to expose a cheating or lying politician or official.
During my time as a reporter, I was sort of a specialist at that — busting big shots. By finding out and publishing the truth, I caused some local big shots to fall. That’s much more satisfying than arresting a drunk driver, although both the arrest and the expose are services to the public, no matter how under-appreciated they may be.
The thing is, I loved both of the careers in which I worked. I never dreaded going to work even one day as either a reporter or a cop. Both jobs suited me…
