You are more than your paycheck......

Today is Friday....game day.  I dropped my daughter at school dressed in her cheer uniform.  We don't talk on the 5 minute ride to school.  She's usually pretty cranky in the morning and truth be told I'm not a ray of sunshine lately either.  I picked her up 7 hours later and a different girl got in my car.  She was yelling over her shoulder at the football players gathered at the door, there was a pep in her step.  She got in the car all smiles.  I said "you love that uniform don't you?"  She laughed and said it gave her confidence.  Not because she belongs to me but my daughter is stunning.  She's the whole package....gorgeous, smart, funny, fit.....yet she needs a uniform to give her confidence?!?!  I thought back to my son and baseball.  He had a certain swagger when he was wearing his uniform....hmmm  maybe I'm on to something.  Then I got to thinking about all those years when I was a stay at home mom and people would as me "What do you do?"  What do I DO?   Ummmm I'm a stay at home mom.  Instantly their eyes would glaze over and they would go on to someone else to have a conversation with.  Oh, I'm SORRY....is raising decent human beings not enough of a goal or "career?"  I didn't really give it much thought until I was divorced AND still a stay at home mom.  Yea, people had a field day with that one.  I used to wonder how and why people put so much emphasis on their career.  Shouldn't you work to live, not live to work?  Shouldn't your self worth be based on the type of person you are, not how you earn a living?.I hadn't had a "real job" in nearly 24 years so I thought maybe I was uneducated   Well all of that changed this year.  I'm out in the "real" world working.  I love my job, most days.  It's a huge adjustment for me and my kids.  My son was here a few weeks back and I was cooking and on the computer and answering calls and texts at the same time.  I would hang up and my phone would ring again.  He flipped his head around and said "Is this for REAL?"  I couldn't help but laugh...I said this is my life now dude....I'm multi tasking all over the place.  But is my job so important?  Well to the owners and guests I take care of....if I didn't do it then yes it would be.  But am I really making a difference in the world by how I earn a living?  No....and unless you are a teacher, or a doctor or a soldier, or police officer etc.....neither are you!  You might be making a difference in your job but it's by the interaction you have with the people you deal with.  It's not your job that's making a difference-----its you as a human being!

I have always been someone who needs to do everything "right" and be the best at whatever it is I'm doing.  Now since the Pinterest days have come around I no longer make the best looking anything out there (except children 😉) and I'm okay with that.  It's not important to me what other people think.  So long as I know I've done my best that's all I can do..  Now with that being said my challenge in my job is that sometimes no matter what I do my best won't be good enough for someone.  I'm learning to be okay with that.  But do I place my self worth on my job?  Absolutely not!  My self worth comes from the relationships I have in life, in giving my all to everything I do.  It comes from having people I love and who love me.  It makes me sad that people brag about how busy they are and what they did during the work day.  Really?  Well what are you doing when you get home....you know...to the people who are supposed to be the ones who matter most?  Too tired to interact with them?  Still thinking about what happened at work?  Why?  I just don't get it....and I never will....and that....is just a day in the life...