Day 21 of the
National Blog Post Month challenge where I’m writing a blog post every day
along the theme of 30 Steps to Happiness and Contentment.
Do you love what you do with the majority of your time, be it paid work, home maker, job seeking or retiree? Do you enjoy what you do?
If you’re working
make sure you’re doing a job you enjoy.
I know that’s not always possible.
You may be stuck in a job that you hate because you need the money to
live. But if you really dislike the
job, don’t just put up with it, look at ways of either improving the job your
doing, look for another job or retrain
for a different career – something you enjoy doing. Life is too short to be wasting time and energy in a job you
hate. How can you be happy and
contented if you spend the majority of your time doing something you don’t
enjoy?
There
have been many times when I’ve had jobs I don’t enjoy and I’ve had to do them for
the money, but I’ve always had plans and goals and if ever I had to do a job I
didn’t like, I’d know that it’s only a means to an end and then it wouldn’t
seem so bad.
I’ve also had
times when I’ve been a stay at home mum.
I know how difficult and lonely it can be. I especially found it hard in the beginning with my first
child. I was used to working and found
it difficult staying at home with no one but a baby to talk to. But, I managed by finding things for us to
do together to get me out the house and meeting people. I joined tumble tots, baby music classes, I
went to all the clinics and joined up for the toddler group as soon as he was
old enough. That was in England where
there are loads of things for you to do with your little ones. When we moved to France it was a different case. There is not so much
to do with babies – no tumble tots or toddler groups and I started to feel
really isolated. So, I started my own group
– I advertised on an English forum for other English speaking mums in the area
and we started meeting weekly at each others houses. So, if your bored or lonely, you have to go out there and join in
something or start something yourself. Nothings going to happen if you just sit and wait for it to come knocking on your door.
I know it’s
difficult when you’re looking for work and maybe can’t get the job you want or
maybe even any job, but try to use your time wisely. Join the local library and read up on things that interest you,
take advantage of the free courses and training you can get while looking for
work. Think about maybe starting your
own business – you don’t have to have loads of money to start a business. Why not volunteer and help out a local
charity, by doing something useful with your time, it will make you feel better
about yourself and it’s more likely to open up other opportunities to you. It will also give you something more positive
to talk about in interviews. Companies
will be more impressed if they hear that you’ve been using your time
usefully. Don’t wait for things to
happen, you have to make them happen.
Think about your
life – what do you spend the majority of your time doing? Is it something you enjoy doing? If it isn’t, look at ways of changing it. If you spend the majority of your time doing
something that makes you unhappy or dissatissfied, how can you expect to be
happy and contented with your life as a whole?
I can't say I love everything I have to do, but I do enjoy the majority of things I do with my time. It hasn't always been so and I've had to work hard and continue working hard to make it this way. It's so important to enjoy what you do with the majority of your time, so make sure you give it the effort it needs to make it happen.
How about you. Do you love what you do?
Step 30 - The Key to Happiness and Contentment
Step 29 -You are the master of your own destiny
Step 28 - Don't give up on a good relationship
Step 27 - Don't Judge , Live and let live
Step 26 - Don't Worry, by happy
Step 25 - Never give up
Step 24 - Get by with a little help from your friends
Step 23 - Go with the Flow
Step 22 - Enjoy the moment
Step 21 - Love what you do
Step 20 - Forgive and Forget
Step 19 - Unconditional giving
Step 18 - Smile and the world smiles with you
Step 17 - Work to live, don't live to work
Step 16 - Surround yourself with Positive People
Step 15 - Always look on the bright side of life
Step 14 - Where there's a will there's a way
Step 13 - Silence is Golden
Step 12 - Feed your Soul
Step 11 - Follow your Dreams
Step 10 - Use your time wisely
Step 9 - Don't be too hard on yourself
Step 8 - Consider what you value most
Step 7 - Find time for Yourself
Step 6 - Make time for Family and Friends
Step 5 - Don't take yourself too Seriously
Step 4 - Feel the Fear and do it Anyway
Step 3 - Love what you Hate
Step 2 - There's no such word as CAN''T
Step 1 - Find the Best in Every Day
You know, sometimes we just do what we do without giving it much thought. It doesn't always make us happy but we dont consider the possibility that maybe we can change it.
ReplyDeleteLife really is too short not to be happy so maybe it's time to take a fresh look and see what needs changing. It probably isn't the impossible dream it seems.
Another great, thought provoking post Nikki :)
Thanks Sarah. Sometimes I write stuff from my head that makes perfect sense to me and yet I sometimes wonder if it makes as much sense to others. Glad you got it :)
ReplyDeleteI'm always trying to fine-tune my life to make it better for me and now for DD and me. Having to make a decent living limits my choices atm and I have to be careful not to jepardise what we have. However, I hear your message and it is a life-long consideration.
ReplyDeleteQuite agree Nikki. Sadly, not everyone has your drive and initiative and, as they would say nowadays, self-esteem. They can't see that they owe it to themselves to give their lives a value - they think they 'know their place' and that's doing something boring and pointless in many cases. I would always refuse to do a job I hated and would look around until I found something worthwhile and enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteWhen I say to older people 'You should write about your life', loads of them say 'Who'd want to know about my life, I haven't done anything interesting.' How desperately sad and what a waste. It's not surprising there are so many miserable old people wondering where their lives have gone and what did it all mean. We've only got one life (as far as I know), so we should make sure it's a full one.
great posts. What a lovely way to use nablopomo, can't believe it took me til day 21 to catch up with you, sorry! I used to teach, I was good at it but it wasn't me. I had a personality test and realised I had been fighting the tide of my natural preferences. I much prefer writing :)
ReplyDeleteHi Midlife singlemum, I understand your dilema, it's not always easy and sometimes we have to make sacrifices, just as long as you have your long term goal in site :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue, never really considered myself as driven lol. Yes it's such a shame that many people seem to give up and just accept their lot. Very sad as you say. Although I'm sure many of those people who say @I haven't done anything interesting' have probably done many things of interest, they just don't realise it!
Thanks 'The Alexander Residence' glad you managed to find a career that makes you happy :)
I really enjoy reading your posts - they do put things into perspective.
ReplyDelete