Tuesday, August 13, 2013

What If We Have It All Wrong?


Sometimes, I think we have life all wrong. Now, I know that is a pretty profound statement, but let me explain.  I am not talking about how one person lives verses another person, I am talking about the order of life itself.

You see, I met this older man in a waiting room and we struck up a conversation.  We began to talk about life, stress, working, etc.  He said he wanted to give me a piece of advice that I probably wouldn't take, but he was going to tell me anyways.

  He told me he could tell how much stress I was under just by talking to me about my job, etc. and he said something huge, "I think we live life backwards.  You see, you are young and should be out enjoying life, not stressing or tied down by a job...much less a career already.  I am older, I have retired, but I have to stay in one place because of doctors appointments,etc. (you fall apart when your older, he said).  I should be the one working.   You spend the prime of your life tied down to so many things that you couldn't escape if you wanted to; but when your older, like me, you are free as a bird with nothing to use that freedom on."

I simply smiled and laughed a little at the enormity and simplicity of what he had just said, but it was huge, really.  It is something that has stuck with me long after that conversation with him.  I think about him and his words often..often in times of stress and think, what if he is right?  This is all wrong.  I, of course, don't mean my marriage or home, I mean jumping into a career so fast. 

We are taught (or I was) to go to college and work yours off to get a job. In my case, the job market I entered was very competitive.  I worked 15 hour days as a 'intern', so to speak, to get hired into my field at my dream location.  That location turned out to be a complete nightmare.  I have since moved locations, but I am still in the same field.  I worked my ass off in my early twenties to get hired into a career that pretty much controls my life. Now I am in my mid-twenties and feel almost suffocated by my job sometimes.  Hmmm, something seems out of balance here. 

I am not saying that we shouldn't have careers, etc. but I do think the pressure to graduate college and immediately go straight into your career field is too much.  I wish I had taken a break before getting into my career.  Some time to just enjoy life whether that meant working at a job that wasn't necessarily my career, but lent itself to more freedom...to more life.

I am not one to tell anyone how they should live their lives, and that is not at all the purpose of this post, it is just to give you a little something to think about. 

18 comments:

  1. Great post! I agree that life is really too short to just be so stressed out all of the time! I'm married, have 2 little girls and I work full time, but LIFE not WORK always comes first. I'm pretty fortunate to work somewhere and for someone who completely gets that.....and while my job can be stressful sometimes at the end of the day, life is just to short to let the small things bother you!

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  2. I see where he is coming from and its true. I get so worried that I'm currently in the good old days and not realizing it! I wanted to take a break before I got my big girl job but an opportunity presented itself and I really needed to start working. A lot of my friends are still doing the school-party thing and I wish I had taken life a bit slower and not tried to finish so fast. That's why I don't want to get married until I'm like 35!

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  3. I think about this all. the. damn. time. And that's exactly why I don't have a "real" job right now. I have the ability to still be relatively free most days. We work our asses off so that we can retire and do whatever we want but by the time we get there we're too old to actually be able to enjoy it. That man is so right. This is a great post my dear!

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  4. I love this. Seriously wonderful post and exactly what I needed to read today.

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  5. This is fantastic! What amazing insight that gentleman gave you. Thank you so much for sharing his wisdom (and yours) with us today. We all need to step back and reevaluate sometimes, and your message states that perfectly.

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  6. Thanks so much for the blog comment!

    LOVE this post! He is SO right, unfortunately, it's just not how life works. I feel the same as you with my job...worked to enter this career field, and now feel stifled =/

    xo,
    Katie
    hellolittlebean.com
    shopboldthreads.com

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  7. Great post Katelyn! This really hits home with me as I have been struggling with my career for over a year now. I would love to be able to enjoy life! And honestly I have been jealous of retirees and how much time they have on their hands!

    Diane @ sweetcatastropheblog.com

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  8. This post really speaks to me today. I just posted about the daily grind and how I often can't believe that I have to keep doing this for the next 20 years. I've always said that youth is wasted on the young. When you are young all you want to do is grow up and be independent but what those young people don't realize is that they should enjoy it. It's so sad that you work for 20-30 years and then when you finally retire and have the time to do things is often around the same time your body won't let you.

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  9. This is so true, so many of my friends are in careers they hate & feel trapped in. I think it's totally normal to feel trapped especially in our 20s, theres so many choices to make!

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  10. This is so true! Everyone always tells me to work as much as I can while I am young.. and sometimes i wish i could work more when I am older, and enjoy the time I have now!

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  11. This post is beautiful! I actually start work tomorrow for the first time since I had my baby. I'm nervous. It's gonna be a life changer for me. I'm excited about it, but nervous at the same time. I dont want to fall back into the daily stresses that work brings. Life is crazy. This older gentlemen is a wise wise man. If only life were livable backwards. You know?

    Love the blog. New follower. :)

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  12. I completely agree, I often think to myself we criticize 18 year olds when they want to get married or have babies as being too young yet we expect them to choose exactly what it is they want to do with the rest of their lives career wise before that age. Why not let them live and learn for just a few more years?

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  13. And it does make you think. But we spend so much of our youth being broke, it's nice to have the financial security when are bones start to creaking in old age. :)

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  14. I have heard this before and when I was young, I thought how great it would be to have the time to do what I wanted - when I retired. I do for the most part, but I am really busy. Fortunately my health is good, but some of those joints don't move as well as before.
    I guess it is just the way life is.
    My suggestion is - try to stay healthy so you can enjoy your later years. I work out more now than when I was young.
    Bev

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  15. I love this post and the advice. Taking the time to enjoy the opportunities that I have now is one of my goals. My husband and I are excited for the time when he is done with grad school. Our plan is to spend a couple weeks doing some traveling that we never got to do before we hit up the 'real world'.

    Lovin' Lee Life

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  16. I have been thinking the same thing lately! http://michaelandelisabethmarks.blogspot.com/2013/06/time.html

    I totally agree with you! We need to take time to enjoy life NOW when we are young and can actually enjoy everything! Thanks for a great post!

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  17. This post is great! I feel like we have very similar views on things. I am 25 and leaving today for an au pair job in Australia. This was blog was sent to me from a friend as a reminder that I (hopefully) made the right decision :). Can I ask how you got so many followers? I am trying to get my blog out there some more. I am fairly new to this whole thing. I think you might enjoy my posts as well. If you're interested it is http://jerricapeterson.blogspot.com/

    Thanks!

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  18. This is so profound and the exact reason why I love working with old folks and retaining their knowledge. Thanks for sharing this.. it's totally something to think about and share amongst my friends.

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