The term “job” has a negative connotation for me. When I think about someone asking me to do a job, or giving me job, I automatically assume it is going to be something that requires unrequited effort. Thinking about work, feels exhausting. Our society has placed so much strain on the importance of work and having a job, that I believe we have forgotten what the original purpose of work is. Work or “your career”, should be involve you doing something that you are skilled at, that you can be an integral part of. Before the “American Dream” and the stock market, people used to have apprenticeships. They would choose the trade they admired most and would learn from a master the skills to perform tasks to benefit the community. Our world has changed, working with our hands has been degraded, and getting ahead is the key to success. That isn’t to say that we all get to choose what we do or how we do it, but more so that we need to fulfill a greater need on a more immediate level. Working and performing jobs has become about survival. In order to survive we need to make money, and in order to make money we need to have a job. This puts us all in positions we don’t want to be in, and this causes “venting”.
I believe that venting is one of the most important parts of life. The literally term to vent means too release, too relieve. Work is the number one stressor in everyday life, so there is always a need to vent about it. We need to vent about our relationships, our families, our jobs, and all our personal struggles. Just saying it out loud to someone else gives our problems and stresses meaning, someone is a witness to our pain, which makes it real and also easier to overcome. Verification is the most important part of moving one, whether it is over our boss nagging us about our job performance, or the loss of a loved one. We need to know that someone is listening, even if it is just for a second. Everyone has different temperaments, but everyone needs to feel that their problems, no matter how big or small, mean something to someone. Otherwise what we do has no meaning to anyone.
The difference between what is termed “harmless venting” and a genuine discontent with lies in each individual person. Venting is healthy, but being unhappy with your work is normal. Unfortunately for our society, most people would say that they are unhappy with their jobs. But they find happiness in their families, or their friends, which makes the work worth it. They key to overcoming this discontent with work is instead of wanting what you can’t have, learn to want what you do have. It is not an easy thing to be content with what you have already accomplished, we as humans are always looking ahead. We keep reaching out in front of us for the prize only to find that once we got a hold of it, we wanted the bigger prize. Finding things to be thankful for and grateful for around us, is a learned skill. We all have individual talents and creativities, finding them and using them is the key to a fulfilled work experience.
I am always trying to remain positive and happy with what I am doing. I vent about everything. It is the only way I feel sane at the end of the day. My co-worker and I get a drink after work a few times a week and just download to each other about work, relationships, family, and everything else on our minds. Like I said before, verification is so important to us. Children need verification about everything they do in order for them to feel like someone cares about their accomplishments. As adults, we are not that much different, only our problems are on a more mature level. In order to make work a happy and engaging environment I try to remember that what I have is a whole lot better that wanting something I don’t. Working towards goals and accomplishing milestones is important during a lifespan, but getting there is a process. The future depends on the present, so in order to make the best of the future we need to make the best of the present.
