DAY 43 first I would like to say good morning or afternoon or evening, whatever it is I hope that its good. I would like to talk about my friend grant before I get into my feelings about work, I met grant about four or five years ago in Seattle, my cousin Dan, a movie director who I spent quite a bit of time with as a young child had asked me to come and work on a movie he was directing in Seattle, I had never done anything like this so I was all over the opportunity. Well when I got out there I met a man named Grant Cogswell, he had written Cthulhu, the movie I was working on, he was a regular guy, someone you could talk to, and I felt he kind of went out of his way to be my friend, and he has been a friend every since. well I knew nothing of his past at the time, only that he seemed to be a genuine friend, well come to find out he was pretty well known in Seattle and had ran for office several years earlier. Recently someone felt his journey was important enough to make a movie about because that's exactly what they did. And it has some big names in it to, Cedric the entertainer, Jason Biggs, Lauren Ambrose and Joel David More from avatar who plays my friend grant in this movie. Grant has been a good friend to me and has really boosted my spirits with his complements on my writing, I really value his opinion as he is a writer himself, he has also helped spread the word about my blog in the Seattle inde film industry so I feel obligated to return his friendship by doing the same, to anyone who reads this and enjoys a good movie, one has been made about a friend of mine that I would like you to check out, for those on face book you can go to search and type in grassroots the movie, for those of you who are not, go to www.grassrootsthefilm.com and please check it out, thanks grant for your support.
I would like to talk more about the jobs that all of us have, the things we do to make a living in this world, I think sometimes my opinions are opposite of what we are taught so I have Kept them to myself for a long time but this is another aspect in my life that I have been hiding from for a long time and I refuse to wonder if I am right or wrong anymore. When I work for someone I give them all that I have, physically and mentally, I work as hard or harder than anyone I work with and I take pride in what I'm doing, not only that, if I'm asked to do something I haven't done before I get the information needed to do it right so doesn't need to be done again. That is how ive been for a long time even when I was on drugs I took pride in what I did, I just didn't show up all the time to do it. well it seems we let our jobs run our lives, most of the decisions we make in life are based on what is going on at work or what happened at work, how we treat our families and friends when we get home also depends on how our days went, AT WORK. Does anybody realize the control your bosses have over you if you let them, more than your wife or husband it seems. Well I have been told you do what you got to do to make it and in doing this I used to come home from work so tired and beat down all I wanted to do was drink or get high to forget about spending the last ten hours being miserable, to tired and beat down to spend time with the people I was doing all this for, now that I'm thinking straight this makes absolutely no since to me at all, when I was on drugs I still took pride in what I did but had no pride in myself so I let people walk all over me. I personally think the work place has gotten out of hand because employers know we need our jobs so we get not only taken advantage of but verbally abused quite abit. It seems a lot of times I can be trucking along and doing a good job and yes, maybe even looking for an attaboy when all of the sudden you get the exact opposite, an eight hour day feels like twenty. I no longer want my job to have control over every other part of my life, I am open to suggestions, please help me out on this, I am starting to feel like depression is setting in. more on this subject tomorrow after I get some advice from all of you. James
People who work often have dual personalities.....they have one at work and one for the rest of your life...In this ecomony, any job is a blessing.....it would certainly be here in Prescott.......I know people who have not worked in almost two years.......and no jobs are in the works anywhere in AZ......Taco Bell is considered a decent job in this town. Plus waitress and bartenders make somewhere around $3.00 an hour....yes..three dollars an hour.....this is a right to work state and very seldom do jobs have benefits of any kind. So before you quit a job, remember that jobs are hard to find, Period....service men are coming home and having to reinlist......Being miserable is not as miserable as not ever receiving a paycheck..........Love You Aunt P.
ReplyDeleteSome people have a gift or a talent that allows them to earn a living doing something they love - that is the dream. The overwhelming majority of us work because we need the income, not because it feeds our souls. I am going to give it to you straight - your children deserve to depend on you for some financial support and that may require you to keep working at a place that does not make you entirely happy. Find a better job, with better pay, better benefits and a better atmosphere - by all means - but find that dream job before you leave the current one.
ReplyDeleteSometimes you get to have a job that you like sometimes even love and it is a joy to go to work. Not many people get this, but you can take joy in the small things. You know you a doing a good job. Take pride in that. You will not always get the recognition for what you do....that it kind of that looking for others to give you value. Most people need to work and right now there are lots and lots of people without jobs...I think that most employers know that and take advantage, it is a human trait. So go to work, earn your pay and be on the lookout for a better situation just don't let recognition for your good work set how much YOU value yourself and who you are. It is just a job...a way to make money to pay bills until you find that dream job. Some one once that being a good parent is showing up for the job...you may not always be right but it counts if you are there. Bringing home a pay check is a way of being there also.
ReplyDeleteI think both of the above comments are good, with the way our present economy is. Gone are the days when jobs were plentiful. When I was young & single, I quit a job at Pan Am because I couldn't stand my boss, but back then I lived in the S.F. Bay Area, and jobs were plentiful (for office workers at least.)
ReplyDeleteI worried about Cindy when she first moved to NY, because, although she's doing the kind of work she loves (costuming,)she doesn't have any benefits and she relies on a variety of jobs to make a living. Fortunately, she's got plenty of work right now, but it can be scarce at times too, because she doesn't have a permanent job.
So, unless you can find another good job, I'd hang onto what you have. Is it possible to try and sit down and communicate your feelings with your boss? I hate it when bosses get an attitude and think it gives them the right to treat everyone else like dirt. That's why I quit my job at Pan Am. My boss was a total jerk, and he even yelled at me just because I briefly said hello to one of my stewardess friends. He yelled so loud I think everyone in the building could hear him. Since your boss is being disrespectful to you, is it possible to mentally consider the source (that he's a jerk) and just do the best you can but don't let him get under your skin. Somehow try to distance yourself & your feelings from him and know in your mind that your self worth is not dependant on what he says or does. The more I follow your blogs, the more I admire and respect the wonderful person that you are, and you don't need his approval. You've got a lot of us cheering you on, so just consider the source (he's obviously a self-absorbing jackass....pardon my language!) Don't let him drain you. Just do your job and save the best of yourself for your family & friends. Take care, Jim God Bless! Nancy B.
Jimmy all I can say is have joy in your soul because tomorrow is again not promised. Give praise for your deliverance and know who's hand divinely delivered you.
ReplyDeleteI made 35 bucks an hour plus 5.50 an hour into my pension and 3.73 into my vacation with a atm card for my vacation account not to mention my medical and the 2.33 an hour into my other pension.
After 911 all that slowly faded and now there are 900 at least out of work on our out of work list at the hall.
4 years ago I got my general contractors license and found that you cannot run a legitimate business in residential construction and compete with the underground market.
I now am supporting my children on 10 dollars an hour with no bennies.
We have been forced into low paying jobs every where.
Tomorrow is not promised have peace in your soul Jimmie right now is all we have.
I'm preachin to myself brother! Love Ya man and god Bless You!
Yes, I agree. I have certainly had jobs that paid better and jobs that I have loved more, but I am gratefull for what I have and that I don't HATE my job. I work very hard and come home tired most nights. My husband has been laid off and without a job for over a year. He has even gone to school to learn another trade but the jobs just are not there. We have been really, really tight on money, have ended up at the food bank, and been really desperate feeling at times. We are OK now, but not as well off as I would like. All the other comments are correct though, being there for your kids is very important. But, being true to yourself is very important too. The line between the two is very fine! Love you much, Karin
ReplyDeleteI have had a number of different kinds of jobs in my life. I've been a licensed psych. tech. in the California State Hospital system, a pizza maker, an office worker, a worker an a handrail and furniture factory, a Christian radio station manager, a dishwasher in a bakery, a bakery manager, a personal care giver, a resident assistant in an assisted living facility, and now I'm a housekeeper in a nursing home. I made more as a licensed psych. tech. than anything else, but the job literally drove me crazy because I couldn't do it conscientiously, so I had to quit. My philosophy now is, if I can do my job conscientiously, as unto the Lord, then it doesn't matter whether or not I get any strokes from my boss. I'm not working for him anyway, I'm working for God, in the sense that He is the One I'm trying to please. If God wants to open doors for me to do something more appealing, I am certainly open to that. In the mean time, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am (or job I have), therewith to be content" (Phil. 4:11). Keep doing what you know is right. Blessings, Jack
ReplyDeleteDifficult one for me, James. I work at a place where one of the bosses mistreats most ALL of the employees. If it weren't for the closeness of the employees(maybe due to the common enemy), we would not all stick together and I would miss ANYONE of them who left. I don't know if it helps you, but know that you can be a help to those you work with as well as those you blog. Having a smile on one's face and a healthy attitude can go along way for your fellow workers. If you are like me, you NEED your job. Idle time is the devil's workshop. Don't give yourself a reason to be down. Smile at that M-----F----- and know in your heart that he or she is signing your check every week, like it or not. Hang in there, you never know whose life you are making better by just being there.
ReplyDeleteA lot of great comments on this one. It is obviously something that everyone has dealt with/thought about quite a bit. I really believe that most elderly people are miserable having lived lives of 'quiet desperation' --living in fear and doing a lot of work that they didn't want to do. Things are hard right now in the economy and are probably not going to get better. Just be pure and true in your work, doing the work for it's own sake and taking pride in everything you do. I don't need to tell you this, Jimmy you are the hardest worker that I have ever met and I know you will never have trouble getting work especially now that you are clean. However, it is a powerful thing to imagine the type of work that you want to be doing and overcoming any fear that you might might have in pursuing your dream job. Believe in yourself and follow your bliss. ~dg
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