I was not tagged in one of those, “Tell so many things about yourself that other people might not know” posts, so it is likely that no one really cares. It also means that because I didn’t get tagged I won’t actually do it on Facebook. But it looked kind of fun so I thought I would share some things that you might not know about me.
Number 7
I am happy. That is not really news I guess, but maybe it is.
A few years ago, I was working at a job that I didn’t like. That is putting it mildly. I was leaving before 5 in the morning to be there by 7 (yes a two hour commute and most of that time was spent going less than 5 miles an hour.) I was usually the first person in the office and the last person to leave, getting home only barely in time to see my kids off to bed. And I was still working in the evenings and on weekends, and still not making my bosses happy. I was certainly not making myself happy.
My job was not the only reason I was unhappy but it was pretty high up on the list. I had tried several times to make things better, but every time I tried I was thwarted. As much as I would like to blame them, it was not really them it was me. Well they were not helping that is for sure but it was me.
One day I was riding up in the elevator and I said to myself, “I can’t wait until Friday.” That was when it hit me. It was Monday Morning. Yes, Monday mornings suck, but I was wishing 5 days away. I had a second thing hit me on that rather short ride up, Life is pretty darn short, and if I am this unhappy I need to do something about it, rather that wish most of my life away.
So I did. I took a pretty big leap of faith and took a job, pretty much sight unseen. I moved away from the things that were stressing me most. In short I changed my life. But more than that I have worked really hard over the last few years to change my attitude.
My job is not perfect but, it is not terrible either. I am not really excited about living in NY, but the area were we live is very nice. (I like not really having neighbors.) There are days when I am thinking, what the heck have I done. But over all I am happy. I mean even when I do have a bad day, it is only a day and not weeks or even months at a time.
In the end I have my health, I have my family, I have a job that while it is not perfect pays the bills, we have a roof over our heads and food on the table, I have friends who care. I have a lot to be happy about. More than anything else, I have determined that if I am unhappy with something, I need to be willing to change it. Part of what made me unhappy was fear. Fear or change, fear of the future and the unknown. Once I had conquered that fear, I was much happier.
So in the end I am happy. I have not solved all of the problems that we have, but I think at least on most days I have conquered that fear of change that was keeping me in place before.
-Jeff
You can find the rest of these posts by clicking on the “7 Things” category
The Great Hites 