So there I was on my honeymoon and while having another fruity rum drink on the upper deck of the ship sunning myself, I came to the conclusion (epiphany) that yes, I do work entirely too hard and have allowed myself to get stressed out over things I can’t control. It was at that time I decided that working myself to the point of exhaustion and max stress for an employer with questionable designs for my advancement was done with.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am more than willing to go to the ends of the earth (and beyond) for my pack, my friends, or my team, but when you constantly pour out more effort than anyone else you work with and those efforts don’t result in advancement or return in kind, it gets old in a hurry. It seems that hard work is not the key to success, but fitting into a narrow image of what someone thinks you should be or look like in order to be able to do a job is. Every once in a great while I do get a “Thanks†or “Nice Job†and that is nice, but it won’t buy me a house or pay my bills. To quote a Tom Cruise character, “SHOW ME THE MONEY!â€ÂÂ
I am fortunate in some respects that because I have stepped up to the plate on many things, I have worked myself into a niche that many of the other people I work with don’t have. This niche affords me the opportunity at additional income when normally I would be home staring at the walls wondering how I’m going to pay for (insert needed item here…). I would like to point out that niches could be detrimental however. If you make yourself particularly valuable in an area, you may not have the opportunity that others might simply due to being “badly needed to do (insert niche here…)â€ÂÂ.
Fortunately for me, my work ethic has not gone unnoticed by certain people I have worked with in the past that have moved on to other things. In the past, I have turned down some opportunities that were presented to me by them completely unsolicited and “out of the blue†for fear of moving into an unknown situation or being thrust into a position where I didn’t have access to my support “networkâ€ÂÂ, not to mention the impact that a sudden change would have on my domestic situation. I’m told that you are supposed to consider those things once you get married. In the end, I have to do what is best for me, because employers sure aren’t interested in that.
Despite the above statements, I am hoping that I will see some positive news in the very immediate future about my status with the company. Some recent conversations with the big boss have gotten my hopes up…again. But if I can’t make happen what I need to have happen, I will most likely accept the next offer to come play in someone else’s sandbox, which if I can find the money to get rated on a specific airplane, I already have.
Until I can have the long awaited conversation, I won’t know for certain so I just keep my head down and plug away. Fortunately for me, I have many good friends to occupy my mind and thoughts with instead of work, but then, that is another entry for another time…
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