Friday, November 18, 2011

Thankful for a Job I Love

Last week my youngest son's teacher asked me to speak to their PreK class as part of the "Community Helpers" section. Basically, bring your Mom or Dad to work to talk about what the heck they do all day. I practically jumped for joy.

See, the last time I did this I realized I needed to quit my job. The twins were the same age as my youngest is now - 4- and when asked to do this little talk I couldn't thing of a single redeeming thing about my job, particularly as it relates to the PreK crowd.

Sure I had a nice title at a fancy management consulting firm, but when asked about what I did all day I had no response. Professional meeting attender? Power Point slide builder? Oh wait, I know, I know, Conference Call expert! Although I had fair pay and a modicum of schedule flexibility, there was just no passion in the work I was doing. But even before the Great Recession that felt like such a high class problem. Was having a job you love that pays the bills and allows you to have time with your family even possible?

Four years later, we can unequivocally say yes. For the first time in my life I'm so passionate about the work we're doing I sometimes find myself working ALL the time (despite owning my own schedule and all of the flexibility in the world) because I just love it so much. Call it an occupational hazard.

We didn't get here overnight, there are some pieces of the job that I love less than others and there have certainly been some lean quarters and rough patches, but this year I'm thankful to know that yes, it's possible to have a job you love, that pays the bills and gives you time with your family.

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