My friend wrote on Facebook… Two days after a 5-day break spent cleaning, sorting, throwing out and organizing her home to such a degree that the acoustics of her apartment changed (!!!) – and already her home was a mess. The piles of laundry sky high and she was as exhausted as ever.
And that – right there – is the single most frightening thing I can think of apart from death and perhaps watching my in-laws have sex. Because I’ve been there for years. Swimming in quicksand. And now, as we approach the one year anniversary of me getting fired, I’m terrified of falling back into that drill. Being exhausted all the time but keeping it together on adrenaline, coffee and dreams – resulting in every single day off spent being sick. Never having the energy to see my friends, seduce my husband or DO anything other than spending every evening comatose in front of the TV.
And I don’t know how I am to avoid it. Every single job add I read says things like:
“Are you one of the best and do you have what it takes?”
(Ehm, no. But I’m above average. Generally. Why? What does it take? WHAT? MY FIRSTBORN? Well… Huh.. Could you take him this weekend?)
“We have a clear goal of beating the current market conditions and position ourselves stronger than ever as the undisputed industry leader in all our segments.”
(Jeez, overachievers much? Calm down. I’m sure you all have very big penises, ‘kay?)
“To reach our goals, we need to build a strong and capable organisation that contains not only the most talented people in the industry but also the best leaders.”
(If we were playing “Bullshit Bingo” I’d be going home with a prize! Isn’t that what every business wants?)
“It’s a demanding job with many opportunities to influence…”
(Can I take a nap?)
(These are real, by the way…!)
…
So I read these and I get so damn tired. I just don’t want to work all the time and be exhausted. Can I just please get a wonderfully fulfilling job and have time spare to stare into thin air? I need it.
I suppose you think me lazy? Unambitious? Well. Maybe I am. (I won’t even get into the working cultures in other countries where they work 100 hours a week, sleep in the factory and get a bowl of rice a week and how spoiled rotten I am. I see it.)
In Brené Brown’s powerful TED talk on vulnerability, (which you really ought to watch if you haven’t already) she says: “We are the most in debt, obese, addicted, medicated adult cohort in US history.”
Seems I am not the only one having trouble keeping up with the pace of this world.
How do you guys do it?
Share this!
You know, we could still go for that small deli/cafe idea 😉
We would be good at it. We would have fun. But I’m not sure we’d earn any money… The margin for profit is small in that business and the hours long. And doing it Joe and the Juice or Lagkagehuset-style sounds like too much work.
Every single thing about this sounds familiar. So familiar.
Really? REALLY? Are you saying I am not alone? Thank God.
So how do you do it?
To summarily echo Tragic Sandwich, you are so not alone! Four months unemployed tomorrow. Thought I’d be rested, full of vigor and my house disgustingly tidy. Reality is anything but!
I think we need to open a women’s specialty store downtown. It would give me a reason to visit, we could indulge in product samples, have hours of business meetings over coffee in the square, and maybe make some money to cover the cost of fun with a little left over for our families.
Ah, we may not have anything but dreams in our bank accounts, but they are the springboards for wonderful things in our lives. So for the moment, one thing at a time. What we need will come to us, we just need to open our arms to it.
Until then, let me pour you another cup of tea and join you in staring out the window at nothing.
Wabbit hugs!
[…] I apologize for always writing about – more or less – the same things. Well, here, here, here, here and […]