People ask me how does it feel to stay home, alone for most part of the day...The answer is bored of course! Finding the ‘right thing’ to do can be a lot more challenging than doing the thing ‘right’! One stays at home for a lot of reasons like taking care of the household, kids, dislike of commute (to workplace) and I can go on...
I stayed at home after moving to a new place, quitting a job that was challenging and lovable at the same time! Thinking that after all the hard-work, I deserved a break from the rut of it all and more importantly to adapt to the new environment.
I do enjoy my ‘alone’ time, doing things that I never had the time to do before, be it as simple as catching up with friends I had lost contact with. Then there are the never ending chores of the day that need to be taken care of. But I also miss getting ready to a new challenge for the day, the fear of not being prepared well enough, getting caught off-guard, the rush every morning and the stress at the end of each day...I am certainly not the first person and surely not the last one to have this love-hate relationship with my job!
At the end of the day when my head doesn’t hurt with a throbbing pain and stress of the day, when I dont have to worry about who said what about whom, how much of it is true and more importantly not being conveniently dumped on or 'delegated’ with the work that is not remotely mine, I don’t know whether to be happy or sad...And here I thought the answer to that question is obvious!
Can work really be fun? Fun I am choosing to deprive myself of? Is it the only identity? I dont have answers for these questions yet but when I think of the extra hour of sleep on a rainy day, curled in my blanket when the whole world rushes through the traffic and all, I think I am not totally out of line to think that it is a privilege to stay back and take a break!
Let me for a while ‘work from home’...no not through the schemes that promise you ‘so many dollars’ for ‘so many hours’. Let me enjoy the time as a vacation well earned. Because sooner or later I will have to go back and be a part of the rut and when the extra work is dumped on me let me not curse myself for not enjoying today!
---Still bored
Urooj Fathima
Yes, there is a love-hate relationship with work - until you start doing what you love - love so much that it obliterates all other annoyances. When I started working as a Linux Admin in IBM, I loved the work so much, it made me forget all the other annoyances that came with the job. Then again, I probably loved it as much, because I was finally our of my 'call centre' role :-)
ReplyDeleteI got to say this, that you kinda feel great, when you take home with you the small, minuscule victories of each day!
Some days, just some days God decides to give you a big one!
The place i am currently working at was like a dream job when i started, lots of things to learn and do but with time things became more boring as there was a lack of scope for me here.
ReplyDeleteToday i am caught in this deli-ma to just move out or stick till i get another opportunity. Was happy to come across your post :)
Thanks Glenn! Yup! Its a catch-22 situation for all of us. If one can afford a break every now and then, then I think one should go for it! After-all we have to get back into the grind at some point...The love-hate relationship with our job is a vicious cycle!
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