It’s one of those rare weekends that I hardly spent any time home, other than to sleep. While the homebody me isn’t inclined to do so every weekend, it’s nice to have a packed schedule once in a while. I mean, that’s what we’re all chasing after, right? Novelty. A break from the monotony that is our work week. We fight so hard for change and excitement, yet the Sisyphean task of rolling up the rock remains ever constant. It’s Monday again! Time to go back to work.
You either enjoy the process, or be miserable.
Like the friend I was with yesterday. During dinner, after a long day of hiking around Angel Island, he lamented the oncoming workweek. I mentioned that perhaps he doesn’t sound all the enthused about his job, to which he replied, “I hate my job.” Quite a succinct way to say exactly what I was asking! Why stay at a job you actively hate? Why do most people, really? It’s the money, of course. And the sunk cost of the previous effort (read: education) to get you at that job in the first place.
No one wants to - or can - take a pay cut switching to a less stressful job. They’ve adapted their lifestyle to their current income level. Decreasing that means having to make other hard choices as well. For someone already miserable at a job, adding that complexity to the decision means they rather not make it. Or perhaps they can’t: the cost of mortgage and kids can’t really decline, can it? So let’s just slog through the workweek for that sweet reprieve of the two day weekend. Some weekends you might be lucky and get three days.
Then the loom of Monday creeps in on Sunday evening. The joy of that reprieve vanishes in a flash. To each their own, obviously, but that’s not how I want to live my life. Work is a necessity, yes, but I won’t stay a job that I actively hate. Life is too damn proverbially short for that.
Push that rock up for the nice things.