Work Happier Not Harder

Recently I saw a news clip about middle school kids taking "career-ready" classes to get them a jumpstart into finding their dream job. While that is all fine and dandy, how many 12-14 year olds stick to their dream job? Are there any 12 year olds that dream of being an accountant, or even know what an accountant is? I have no idea. I also don't remember what I wanted to be when I grew up (minus the phase when I was 7 when I was pretty sure I could be a pioneer when I grew up, but that's a whole other story). I have been out of college for three and a half years now and I can say with certainty each job I have held since college has played a direct role in the position I have today. I am a compliance coordinator for a children's healthcare facility. I had no idea such a job existed when I was in middle school but I can't imagine a better place to take advantage of my skillset and interests.

My favorite part of my job is not the part where I write policies or edit practice manuals or schedule a monthly meeting with 17 people (all real things I have done this month). My favorite part of my job is the vision and passion I share with my coworkers. It takes a certain type of person to work where we do; that type of person does not thrive in every work environment, something I know from far too much experience. See, at my current employer, we all share the mindset of doing the right thing and helping others, with very little expected in return. The intangible feel good benefits of the workplace are one the biggest reasons I wanted to work there in the first place.

I only went job searching one Sunday night because I was fed up with being treated like crap and "not doing enough to get us another big bonus." I was turned off by the attitudes of my coworkers and how they had lost sight of helping people get their lives back. Sure, there were atypical perks to that place, like bringing my dog to work and periodic happy hours to celebrate successful settlements. The longer I am in the workplace the more I realize company culture can make or break an entire job for someone. I realized it didn't matter how much fun my workplace seemed. I wasn't happy. I saw the perfect opportunity for myself and I took it without looking back. 

I am very thankful for all the jobs I have held in this world. They have all gotten me to where I am today. I am ungodly grateful to finally be in a place where my values are matched and my enthusiasm for doing to the right thing is the norm (with only warm fuzzies to show for my efforts sometimes!). I love having lower blood pressure and fewer bouts of anxiety over excess emails about how I should be prioritizing my day. I love how my boss tells me about the compliments and positive feedback others share with him about me as an employee. (100% performance evaluation after 90 days, thank you.) I love how the president of the company isn't too good to make the coffee each morning. I love how the CEO stops at my desk just because she randomly thought about me while she was driving to an appointment 2 hours ago. I love how my 85 year old cubicle neighbor doesn't want to retire because she enjoys her coworkers so much. I love that I love my job enough to enjoy showing up early to get more things done. 

I love that I finally love my job. Period.

Blue Ovals

Blue ovals have been a part of my life since 2001. The first blue oval I ever ran on was the mile run in PE in first day. The high school track was being resurfaced so we ran at Luther. I don’t know why I remember that, but I do. Perhaps it is because I set the first grade girls mile run record that day (mostly I was clueless and just kept running until someone stopped me). I lost that record years later but I am pretty confident I still have the second grade shuttle run record so I’m basically a legend in my elementary school. I realize now how important that particular blue oval and later other blue ovals have become to me.

I remember high school teammates working year-round to be able to run at the state meet. I had been to the state meet several times before and there is never a dull moment. I have spent countless hours "picking" the winner of the heat on the track, rarely winning against my friends' picks. Watching the boys team win the high school state title my senior year comes back to mind instantly (along with a lot of horrible sunburn lines going into graduation the next weekend). I have never yelled so much or so loud in my life but when your team is out there competing, you do what you can to help on the sidelines.

Then I went to college where I met another blue oval. It was the same blue oval I ran on as a 7 year old but it had a different meaning to me now. I wasn’t planning to go out for track at Luther. I didn’t know anyone else on the team and I was pretty intimidated by fall workouts. I started going on long runs through the neighborhoods around campus. Eventually, the head coach saw me run past his house a bunch of times and sent me an email suggesting I go out for track. I relented and went out. It is one of the best decisions of my life.

The vast majority of my college memories come from the blue oval or the people I met on it. I have no idea how many miles I ran on that oval. I don’t even know the number of workouts. What I do know is that I made some lasting friendships from the people I met there. During my college years I knew everything about everyone in my running group. And I mean everything. Looking at you, Samantha Ea. These people ran with me, cheered with me, cried with me. Some even threw up near me. I can't even begin to fathom how many of them have seen the lower half of my butt while I was in the starting blocks or after a race with spandex half way up my behind. These are my people. These were the people I went on ice cream runs with (track pun right there!). These are the people who fill my college house party experience. #longlivenakedhouse These people ate meals with me every single night after workouts. They understood me when no one else did. Now, I miss seeing them every single day. I would have never known them without the blue oval.

This weekend marks the 110th Annual Drake Relays. I remember years’ worth of friends working their hardest to make the cutoff times and head to Des Moines for the weekend to run on a huge stage of the Drake Relays. I don’t run to compete on that blue oval anymore and really, I don’t know a lot of people even competing anymore. But there is something special that happens every Drake Relays. Athletes rise to the occasion in unimaginable ways- not letting gale force winds or torrential downpours hold them back. The weather seems to be world’s best weather or world’s worst weather (sometimes both in a single day) the weekend of the Drake Relays. My husband and I were brought together by the blue oval in college. Now we go to the blue oval at the Drake Relays, seeing as it is less than 10 minutes from our house. There is truly something magical about the voice of Mike Jay and 8 lanes of blue polyurethane in front of a devoted fan base. The first year my husband and I went to the Drake Relays it poured. Continuously. For hours. We left early because we were frozen. We bought rain suits shortly after that trip too. But anyway, the first time we went to the Drake Relays we sat next to a couple that had been going to the Drake Relays for the last 60 consecutive years. Since everything is a competition have a long ways to go before we catch them. It's our weird, cute, annual track date. Blue ovals wouldn't matter to us if it weren't for the first blue oval that brought us together.

Some of my favorite memories and people are from blue ovals. I met some of the best and brightest and funniest people I know on blue ovals. Half my wedding party had a connection to blue ovals. Never underestimate the power of your own blue oval or green square or orange hexagon. 

Lately

I know. I haven't blogged in awhile. Some days I think, "I should really write a blog post tonight." But then nothing happens. I get sidetracked, my dogs are extra needy, something needs a desperate cleaning, etc., etc. You get the picture. So I haven't published anything in awhile.

A week or so ago I was reading another person's blog. It was actually a blog for nurses, far reach from my own employment in a law firm, but an interesting read nonetheless. I don't remember the topic of the post but a single comment has stuck with me more than a week later. "It's easy to write when things aren't going well." It was something to that effect.

And that is the absolute truth. The last few years have been anything but easy, as demonstrated by the first posts on my blog; similar issues nagged at me up through last year. Things have been going really well lately. Sure, I feel the every day stresses of being an adult. Work is never easy as I navigate a field I am still working to understand. Everyone's work is challenging somedays so this doesn't make me special. If every day was a piece of cake we wouldn't call it work. (Side note: we had carrot cake yesterday at work and it was delicious. Hit the spot.) Owning a home comes with its own set of challenges as I prioritize what projects need to be accomplished by when and decide whether something is a major issue or minor inconvenience. Maintaining a car is a simple task anymore as I order new tires online and schedule an oil change. Compared to the greater world, my problems are small potatoes (which are my favorite food so I am more than happy to call myself that).

Nothing in my life is so strenuous or taxing or debilitating that I need to blog lately. I had one job recently where there was something to blog about nearly daily because I was so overwhelmed by every single task in my life. I was stressed to the point of not eating or sleeping. I have neither of those problems now. Sure, my days are full as I work almost full time and take 3 classes at a local community college but these are choices I have made and I have adequate resources to make sure my bases are covered in all aspects of life.

I'm sorry if you have been hoping for more thought provoking content these days. My life is too good right now. I don't want this blog to be a place I sit around and brag about all my current accomplishments and expect you to post congratulatory remarks when I share it on Facebook. I am here to offer my insights and advice. It probably goes without mentioning that I like my life right now and don't want to be inundated with sad and scary things that make for good writing.

I am working on more content (of happy and exciting things in my life!) and it is one of my goals this year to write more: blogging, journaling, and note writing. I also want to read more books and drink more coffee, and snuggle with my dogs. My year is off to great start, as I read my book this morning (highly recommend "The Great Alone"), drank my coffee, and snuggled my dogs. I wish you all a fabulous year ahead.