I’ve worked almost thirty jobs in my life – I’ve never seen a paycheck that I didn’t like. With that being said, the pursuit of my “dream job” while not consciously at the forefront of my mind, was definitely something I thought about on a regular basis.
I remember taking strength and personality tests in high school in the hopes that my dream job of being an actress would align with my strengths and personality. Unfortunately, my strengths always came back with an aptitude to be an engineer – something I had ZERO interest in.
Even though my dreams didn’t align with my strengths I still pursued them. And as I pursued my dream job – the one thing that I thought would solve all of my searching and angst – I came upon a realization that I think everyone needs to know.
There is no such thing as a dream job.
Don’t start throwing stones at me yet!
Like I said before, I’ve had almost thirty jobs in my life ranging from radio DJ, clown, receptionist – you name it, I’ve probably done it. Some jobs were worse than others and some were pretty awesome – but you know what I’ve discovered – all of those jobs were JOBS.
One of my best friends has only ever wanted to be a stay at home mom – she literally told me she is living her dream and yet it isn’t everything she thought it was supposed to be.
My husband is doing exactly what he set out to do and yet there are days he doesn’t want to get out of bed and go to work.
This whole idea that doing something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life is just not true.
And what about the people like me who never achieved their dream job? Are we destined to hate every working moment for the rest of our lives? Did we miss out on the perfect life? Are we less than because we chose a dream that we never saw fulfilled?
I think the answer is most definitely NO!
My parents are retired teachers and are currently working part-time at Costco – and you know what? They are LOVING it!
Is Costco at the top of most people’s dream job list? I doubt it – but it’s working for them.
And I think instead of us focusing on getting our dream job or telling our kids that they just need to find that dream job – we should focus on a job that works for them.
I’m not saying don’t pursue your dreams – I’m still pursuing mine – but along the way, I’ve found a job that works for me. I wanted to be able to stay home and be my own boss. I know other people wanted to have jobs that allowed them to work flexible hours or pay for a vacation every year.
Sometimes a job is just a job.
I’ve also come to realize that sometimes a job is just a job. It’s a means to so many different ends – whether it be purely paying bills or saving for special trips – it can just be what is necessary to survive and that’s OKAY!
So maybe we need to change our thinking and focus on what is important to us. Some of us crave productivity and finding a job that can supply that is imperative. Some of us could care less about what we do at work and prefer to pursue passions outside of work that fuels our souls.
At the end of the day working a job is most likely inevitable – finding a job that works for us whether it’s our dream or not should be what we all strive to do.
