Flexible Working Life

Ages ago, before I broke into the world of freelancing, someone asked me if I worked for money or happiness. It didn’t take a second for me to reply.

The work I did at the time was for money.
I sat in a cubicle for eight hours a day, came home exhausted and had to use my free time at the weekend to catch up on chores. I can safely say that at that time, nothing about work made me happy. I’m painting a grim picture, I know, and I also know that many people adore working in an office, but my point is, if I asked you that question today, what would be your answer?

I have a friend, he works in a factory as a floor manager and he despises his job. Whenever I see him out of work, he talks about work. He complains about the people he works with,the amount of stress he’s under, the hours he’s expected to do…the amount of subjects he can moan about it endless. But that’s not who he is.

He’s a lovely, funny guy who used to have a real hunger for life and when you were around him you’d always be laughing. Now there’s not so much laughing. I have asked him loads and loads of times to leave.
I mean, if a job is really painful then you leave, you do something else, right?
But the amount of excuses he gives me is just as long as his list of complaints.

We all have bills to pay. We all need money. But you are never, ever, ever, stuck. You always have a choice, you can always change, move financial things around for a while to get some breathing space. It’s not too hard and there are loads of people and companies out there willing to help.

I spoke to my friend just last week and he was really upset because there’s a rumour that he may be being made redundant.
I said, “Well, isn’t that’s brilliant news? You hate that job.” He agreed that he hated his job but not that it was brilliant news.

I don’t buy that, now he has the choice on whether he works for money or happiness. I hope he chooses both.

Stumble it!