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Live to work or work to live?
By Steven Dale
For most of us, work is an inevitable part of life.. we go through some sort of education and then into a job. Sometimes, we extend our 'normal' education to study at college or university. This may or not be related to the kind of work we envisage ourselves eventually doing. Some of us enter into vocational training to better equip ourselves for our future chosen employment or vocation. Examples may be nursing or accountancy. As a child most of us have been asked the question "what do you want to be when you grow up?" and its a question most of us have pondered at one time or another as we grew up. Eventually, most of us will enter into some form of employment. Our first job is not often the one we end up in for most of our working lives. Sometimes we have to start off in "the wrong job" before we get our 'ideal" or "perfect" job. At least that what we tell ourselves. However, it is important that whatever job we do that we don't end up living just for work. Life is for living and work is meant to enable us to live, to buy food, clothing, pay the rent and enjoy the finer things in life. Some call this the "work-life balance" and as the term implies, there has to be a balance between work and life. How do we achieve this though? Well, for what its worth, here a few thoughts of my own from my experiences. 1) Its not usual for your first job to be the one you eventually decide is your 'perfect job' or the one you end up in for most of your working life. So don't worry if you find your first job is one you want to leave early on. Learn from your time there and always be nice to everyone... you never know when you might meet up with them again! 2) Rather than think of jobs in terms of money and status, think of them in terms of how they will challenge you, how they will develop your skills and how they fit in with the rest of your life. You want a job to help you to grow, not to wear you down and consume your soul. 3) Remember that your colleagues are people too and may themselves not yet be in their personal 'perfect job'. Working life is less stressful if we can all get along, work as a team and help each other get through the working day. If there is tension at work try to examine what may be behind it and how you may be able to reduce tension and conflict. 4) Life is a journey and our working life is no different. As we get older we want different things from life and from our work. As a result we may find ourselves changing jobs for no other reason than its time to move on to pastures new. It may also be that we need to change our role or our hours, perhaps because we have become a parent. 5) If you find yourself unhappy at work find a friend who you trust and talk things through with them. If they are mature and have experiences similar to yours their listening ear and considered advice is worth more than gold itself. If this is difficult or you can't resolve the issues, take a few days leave and go somewhere where you can have the time and space to think things through. Sleeping on things is important too - decisions made in haste are usually repented at leisure. So, remember, we were created not to work (we are not worker ants or bees) but work is an important part of life and plays a part in making life not just bearable but also worthwhile.
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Contributor's Note
I am now in my early 50's and have worked as a stock-keeper in an supplier to schools, as a nurse, a fundraiser, a project manager, a freelance photographer and journalist and now run a charity. I have also had part-time jobs as an IT consultant, a Bookkeeper, filling shelves at night in a supermarket and worked in my youth delivering newspapers, running the newspaper shop, on a pig & poultry farm and in a general store behind a counter and in the stockroom.
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