A sense of accomplishment.

Accomplishment is one of the most important feelings we can have. I know people who were making more money at twenty years old then most people in their fourties were making after being employed with the same company for half of their life. When these go-getters quit their jobs, I am inclined to ask, "Why?" If things were so good, if you were making such good money, then why quit?

The answer was not because they did not enjoy it. It was not that they didn't have enough free time. It was simply because "my boss doesn't appreciate what I do; there is no sense of accomplishment."

It is a moot point that these specific examples I am recollecting happen to have been good jobs, because it is like this with anything. I have also known people who packed groceries for their entire lives, and loved the work they did, simply because it made them feel like they were making a difference somehow.

Myself, I do not do the most admirable work. I never got a diploma because of an inconsistency that I have yet to attempt to clear up, but I never had anything in mind for after school. Everyday I hear, "you are too smart for this, why don't you go to college?" or "you are too tough for this, why don't you go work on the rigs?" what these people fail to understand, is that if either of those things interested me at all, I would be doing them.

When the downers at work come to me and tell me "my boss doesn't respect me." or "people don't appreciate what I do around here." I simply tell them, "hey, at least they are paying you." I am empathetic to them, in a strange sort of way. I can understand that they feel unappreciated, I can understand that they want praise from the higher ups from time to time; I do not share these sentiments, but yeah, I GET it. I will often ask them, "what do you do in your spare time?" and I get a response that I am sure no one here is unfamiliar with hearing.

"Nothing."

This irks me every time. How somebody could go to work for eight hours a day, and then spend what precious free time they have sitting there, and rotting away, is a very sad thing indeed. So then I started to think, maybe it's not that they feel unappreciated that is causing the problem, so much as it is they are simply so bored for the rest of their lives, that the only source of satisfaction they get is from work?

I am not appreciated at work. I do well, and everyone knows it, but I am just as replaceable as any other Joe Schmoe; it's to be expected, customer service is not exactly a difficult task. But for whatever reason, I have never felt a lack of accomplishment, or been down in the dumps that someone didn't notice me that day, and the reason is the quality of life I maintain outside of work. When I come home, I like to get things done. When I look in my notebook, and see that I have filled forty pages in just a few days, THAT is where my accomplishment stems from. When I write a particularly good essay that people enjoy, I feel like I have accomplished what I set out to do; and appreciation comes naturally from that.

I think that if these same people who go home every night, drink a beer, watch television for six hours, go to bed, and repeat the same thing for twenty five years actually got something done in that space, whatever it might be, they may not feel so bad about themselves.

Of course, try explaining this to them; "I just don't have the time."

Yet, there always seems to be plenty of time to watch nine back to back episodes of Family Guy for these people.