Now before I say anything, please know that I am all about people finding their passion in life and getting paid to do what they LOVE. However, sometimes we need a bit of a safety net in the mean time.
I have been at my place of employment (nursing home) for 6 years. I love my job, the residents I work with and co-workers. Also, it is about a minute walk from where I work so it's convenient. That being said, about a year ago, I was starting to dread it; every day felt like ground hog day. Coming from a personal training background and being passionate about seeing people improve their lives, the decline and death of residents was starting to get to me. I realized that I very much needed to change my perspective.
I started a new morning routine to raise my vibration BEFORE work. My routine consists of waking up and immediately appreciating what is good in my life for about 5 mins. Then coffee and positive YouTube videos for about 15-30 mins before work. Some people like to meditate in the morning, but I am always afraid I will fall back to sleep, so I save meditation for the afternoon and that has also helped tremendously.
When I get to work, I try to be the "light". My goal is to uplift and make as many people laugh as I can. In fact, I sometimes make it my mission to get the grumpiest residents to like me. I believe I have often succeeded at this because they are just lonely and lost. My new perspective is: yes although the control freak in me would like to see everyone improve, I am very often the only staff who can afford 1-1 time with a resident who may not have family or any one to come visit them. I may be the last smiling face that they see.
I have noticed a big improvement in my mood at work. So you see, even if you may be miserable at your job (I get it; I have worked in some pretty toxic work environments) if you need it as a safety net (for now), try and make the best of it. Who can you make smile/laugh/encourage? What CAN you appreciate about your job or your life? I invite you to try this and see if you can make your job at the very least tolerable.
