My Second to Last Monday

For years my husband has told me there is a club for people who hate their job.  They meet everyday.  It’s called The Bar.  I suppose he’s right, though that whole idea sounds outdated and very 70s to me.  But he has a point.  Lots of people hate their jobs.

I came across this post by Jon Acuff this morning and found it to be poignant.  But first, I must mention that I only know about him because my husband has twitter stalked him for about a year, he really likes the guy.  Jon’s message is about how you should fear no Monday.  And he’s right, there are jobs out there.  Plus you CAN make your own job.  I know people who are doing it.  Granted they have to have a side job to make ends meet, but at least they are doing something they love and can feel proud about.

I worked the same job for seven years.  It was a job that didn’t use my degree and didn’t pay a ton but was flexible which is important when you have children and a husband that works a lot.  The job I did often felt like high stakes negotiation, a constant balancing act  between often two very opposing sides.  I was Switzerland ALL.THE.TIME.  It was exhausting and I felt like I was always trying to choose the best solution of two bad ones.

For five of my seven years I worked with someone who became a dear friend, working with her made going to work worth it.  We shared similar interests, we both wrote, tried to lose weight and even got accidentally pregnant a month apart.  Then, after ten years, she was suddenly laid off.  After that, going to work lost a lot of its joy.  I would even sometimes find myself crying on the way in to work and I suddenly understood what she meant about how she would sometimes just turn around and go home instead of going to work.  After years in some industries,  you just burn out.

The last year has been a hard one for me and finally I had the epiphany that I am not married to my job.  I don’t have to stay.  We don’t have children together.  Sure, I couldn’t quit on the spot when I so badly wanted to, but I could go home that day and send out three resumes, have two interviews and get one job offer.

Yeah, a lot will change in my life.  My new schedule will be a lot less flexible, it’s a bit of a pay cut and I will have to put the kids in aftercare at the school so that will cost money, but what I am losing in my income I’m earning in self respect.  I have two more Mondays left, unless they tell me not to come back.  I can go into these last two Mondays with a smile on my face knowing it is the last two Mondays that I ever have to go back there.

And that, my friend, is the end of me fearing Mondays.

Thanks Jon!  I totally stole your picture