Job Challenges

“When it quits being fun – quit.” I’ve read this in a book and heard this from my SVP in a Town Hall meeting he held in Phoenix. I support this philosophy. Why not? Why keep doing something you don’t want to do? This can apply to many areas of life – activities, relationships, work. Don’t get me wrong – try to fix what’s not fun first especially in a relationship or at work.

Sometimes it’s hard to fix what’s not fun. In my situation it’s work right now. It quit being fun a few months ago. I’ve been working many years – part time, full time, whatever. I’ve had to do things I didn’t like or didn’t agree with but lost the battle to not do it. That’s part of a job. But when your entire day becomes doing tasks you just have absolutely no f’ing desire to do therein lays the challenge.

Ok, now you’re saying – well, what do you want to do? Hmm….there is a bigger challenge. I have a college degree in Travel & Tourism Mgmt. Face it, travel is not the industry it once was. There may be some possibilities there – it’s something to research. But do I want to do that either? Don’t know. I’ve been at American Express for 15 years. What do I do? Currently I’m a Project Manager - and it sucks. Nope, that's definately not what I want to do. What else have I done for 15 years? Lots of things. I have one of those resumes with lots of skills, but no one particular thing I claim as my thing to do. A benefit and a negative at a big company.

And honestly, quitting is not really an option at the moment. There are these things called bills. They suck. They don’t seem to want to go away. Oh, to win the lottery, but reality says….pay your bills. Damn responsibility. Why couldn't my parents raise an irresponsible kid? ;) Hmmm…so back to what do I want to do? What would I look for in the want ads? What should I look for at Amex postings?

Aren’t these the questions we’re supposed to ask ourselves when we’re 18 and getting ready to go to college and not when we’re 35 and have dependencies? What the hell was I doing then???? What was I thinking? What was I drinking? Oh, wait, I didn’t drink then – maybe that’s the problem, I didn’t have philosophical discussions to help me make these decisions. I think I need a beer………..