Happiness
 

backofbeyond,

I applaud the cogent descriptions of your interesting path and the caring and sensitive nature of your analysis of this topic.

I am one of a number of older riders who, for better or worst and for whatever personal reasons, have posted hard won long term experiences and observations on threads like this one.

The best definition of happiness I have discovered is:

"Happiness is overcoming the barriers to a goal."

I am currently in Spain and yesterday watched Real Madrid take out Manchester 3 -2 and noted forward Cristiano Ronaldo's prone exhibition of the elation of happiness upon scoring the winning goal.

Mr. Ronaldo knew what his goal was and experienced happiness after overcoming the barriers to his goal.

For me, it is really that simple. If you are not experiencing happiness by overcoming the barriers to your goal, perhaps you might consider creating a new goal for yourself.

When deciding upon a goal, one might consider if it contributes to not only your survival, but the survival of your family and mate, your friends, your fellow countrymen, the plants and animals and the planet , your material needs, you, yourself as a spiritual being and contributes to the survival of a concept of a Supreme Being -

And, it is always good to remember that without the barriers to your goal, if you agree with this well reasoned and seasoned, definition of happiness, there can be little happiness. So, perhaps viewing your daily toil and trouble with this in mind. might , just maybe, be happiness for you .

My most recent "job" is treasure hunting. I bought a metal detector and am "working" nearby beaches. Keeps Elisa, my Spanish lover happy becaus she likes me on a short leash - for good reason I might add... happy because she knows where I am and what I am doing, brings joy to countless sun worshippers , swimmers and kids who surround me during the moments I am bearing down and digging up a treasure, I pick up and dispose of a lot of litter, and turn over any antiquities to the Spanish authorities , spread good relations as a North American by speaking fluent Spanish to a population, some topless, who normally doesn't strike up conversations with strangers, and I have found thousands of euros worth of coins, gold and silver necklaces, bracelets etc and I practice walking meditation see Tangozen.com while praying to God.

ps I am a happy man

xfiltrate

eat , Drink and Be Careful and buy insurance

I wouldn't quite stretch to "dream job" but I do enjoy most of the work I do. My work (forestry contractor) does let me see some pretty nice places but can be a bit of a pig if the weather's too hot/wet/windy etc and the income is pretty poor compared to the effort/expenditure involved.

That said, I'm happy enough, we get by and we get away for short trips when we can.

I'd like to get away more and for longer but trying to fit it in seems to be the hardest bit as my wife can only get time off during school holidays and can't take more than a couple of weeks off in one block without it becoming a bit of a chew.

I loved this post, backofbeyond.
You speak wisdom.

This thread has made me really think about things for the first time in years. My first answer was 'it's OK, but ...', but on reflection I would say it's a bit better than that.

A fair day's work for a fair day's pay is an honourable thing. As others have said, it's all about your attitude. I have worked with teachers (good pay, long holidays, pleasant working conditions) who did nothing but moan, and I have worked with people in a call centre (lousy pay, terrible hours, high stress and low job satisfaction) who were sunny and cheerful. I know which of those I admire and which I despise.

I was a teacher for 18 years, becoming something senior in a large school, but I had to give that up owing to illness. When I recovered, I built a new career in commercial training and ended up as H&S manager for a medium-sized company. I had to take time off from that job when my wife was very ill, and all that I could get when I returned was a job as a security guard, working nights. Sometimes I think my career has been backwards, as I seem to be earning less year by year, and at 58 I doubt if I could ever get back to the kind of job that would pay me a decent salary.

But there's no point in moaning. I can support myself and my wife, I don't owe anybody anything, and if I manage my own expectations and stop believing I am entitled to things I will never have, I am quite happy. A careers adviser once said to me that the ideal job was one that gave you "all of the things you need and some of the things you want". I thought that was very wise.

So I'm OK. I never have trouble getting up and going to work, and I never dread the working day like I sometimes did when I was teaching. I enjoy the good parts of the work I do and put up with the parts I don't like. I feel very lucky compared to someone who lives on benefits. But also, I feel lucky compared to some who work in the same company as me, who are on mega salaries but are stressed and angry and driven and dissatisfied.

Domestic circumstances mean that I can't do the long-distance travelling that I yearn to do, but I have had a few good trips and on balance life is good.

I noticed that several posters (including myself) said they had very satisfying jobs while teaching.

Maybe that is the secret - find an interest you excel at and teach it to others. That doesn't have to mean traditional schooling, but sharing what you know with others.

Yup. Or: find an interest you're not very good at, and teach that to others. "Them that can't do, teach."

I've spent 30 years in the same industry. I don't know anything else.
I've been bottom of the food chain and been fortunate enough to spend 12 years as MD of a £250m turnover international business (but unfortunate or dumb enough to have been doing it for a wage on behalf of the owners - albeit a pretty good wage). I've been out of work for some months now, and am planning a long term (low budget) Africa / Asia trip (my wife and I will sell up and just take off). There's a charity we've supported in Uganda and that's where we're heading.
I've seen this thread a number of times and wondered why on earth anyone would want to even think about posting on it - I've spent years avoiding the gossip / 'TwatBook' generation of telling people what you think and believing that anyone else gives a monkey's.
I fully intended to post something cynical and make some sort of sarky comment - maybe some form of venting?
HOWEVER......
No matter how many sad gits I see with bling'd-up Land Rovers that will never encounter more than a high kerb, there's nothing makes more sense than the cliche'd sticker you see on many of them.....

ONE LIFE - LIVE IT!

This is not a rehearsal.
If you love what you do you're amongst the most fortunate people on the planet. If you dont, examine your motives and expectations. Decide what's really important in your life and get on & do something more personally (but not necessarilly financially) rewarding.
That's my tuppance worth. I've got any urge to tweet / twat / poke / post out of my system for another 10 years. AND I'm quite happy about taking the mick out of Land Rover owners as we're taking off in an old Defender.

[QUOTE=wearthefoxhat;393423]

If you love what you do you're amongst the most fortunate people on the planet. If you dont, examine your motives and expectations. Decide what's really important in your life and get on & do something more personally (but not necessarilly financially) rewarding.
That's my tuppance worth. I've got any urge to tweet / twat / poke / post out of my system for another 10 years. AND I'm quite happy about taking the mick out of Land Rover owners as we're taking off in an old Defender.[/QUOT

For me the first line of the above quote sums it all up, 15 small words one massive statment.

I REALLY don't enjoy my job. Certain aspects are meh, ok i suppose. Dealing with the public isn't too bad... However some co workers, politics, jobsworths etc can really piss me off!!! To the point where i'd gladly change career tomorrow if i could....

It's definately the means to an end for me... Until i marry some wealthy Cameron Diaz lookalike...

Though certain jobs such as teaching or nursing should be more of a calling... Something you really want to do... Love to do even...

Ah shit...

i am a nurse... :-S

my answer is actually a mix of 2 and 3

I don't mind my job, it's the company and people who irriate. It pays well and is a means of funding my holidays. With just myself to pay the bills, it's a constant catch-22.

The only people I have known to be genuinely happy at work are Self Employed

Somewhere between 1 and 3.

I'm not sure about 'dream job', but I think I get paid pretty well for not working desperately hard (most of the time) at something I find reasonably enjoyable (most of the time), and when I asked my boss about taking twelve weeks off next year, his first comment was "so where are you going then?".

On the other hand, seven years into this job I won't really say that I fancy doing it for another thirty-five or so.

I've met quite a few teachers over the past few years for one reason or another. I have been very impressed by their committment to their work in the main although I have come across a few who've been ground down working in some of the worst schools in the UK.

I think teachers are motivated by good students who in turn are only good students because their teachers are talented and motivated.

It makes me realise that I would have been a hopeless teacher which is verified every time I try to help my daughter with her maths and physics homework.

My "Ickle Girl" is a teacher and she loves the teaching but hates the bullsh1t and politics, which as she has progressed (she’s a year head now) have become more and extreme.
She spends more time managing people now than actually teaching and is looking into taking a demotion at another school to get back to what she really loves.

Considering some of the bullying and abuse that newly qualified teachers suffer from megalomaniac heads and other staff, it’s a wonder any of them make it through their first year though.

Interesting thread, so let me add my 2 Yen.

Do I like my job? I have to say yes, because it is so much fun teaching those kids not only English but many other things for their future life.

No, it's not for the money, if it was I'd quit today and find something better or move out of Japan.

Aah, the holy grail! A job you enjoy! I've been looking for this all my life. The jobs I've done include working in a climbing shop (tedious after a year or so), working as a cycle mechanic (tedious after a couple of years) and news photographer (a hideous, soul destroying way of making a living - and I'm talking 'news' here, not 'pap').

I ticked 'It's OK' for my current situation, because actually I do two jobs and that's the average! -

1) I work as a civil servant which has good flexibility and promotion prospects and pays the bills, but is also furniture chewingly tedious. I'd give it up tomorrow if I could.

2) I also write children's books. (www.dannylansing.com) I have been working my arse off at this for six years and made almost no money out of it. I now have two published and a third on the way. I am amazed at how difficult it is to make money out of writing. As it stands, I would have made a hell of a lot more money over the last six years if I'd just spent the time doing a paper round. Having said that, I absolutely love it!

I often dream about what it would be like to be able to jack in the day job and commit to writing full time. It would be fantastic. I normally come home after a ten hour day, eat my dinner and then switch on the latop and write for a couple of hours - firstly because I have to (books don't write themselves!) and secondly because I love it.

It is exhausting frankly. I am totally knackered all the time. But I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that one day it will all pay off and I will be able to spend the rest of my life doing a couple of big 'research trips' a year and writing the rest of it.

If you look at any success story, whether it be an athlete or a business person or anything else, there is nearly always an enormous amount of work behind that moment of glory. And a great personal commitment to the venture.

Who knows if my work will pay off? I don't. But I really hope it does, as the alternative is another 30 years in a bowler hat and I wouldn't wish that on anybody!

Matt :)