I've recently read the last article I'll ever read about "Quitting Your Job And Living Your Truth." You know those articles, the ones where the author rambles on and on about how people who work in office buildings, who have stable 9-5 jobs, who work behind a computer screen, are basically dead inside. Those articles, where the author seems to have figured life out with one easy solution: quit your job and be happy.
I want to say thank you...
I want to say thank you to these authors and the people who perpetuate this ideology that working causes sadness, because they have solved life's biggest question - why are we all so damn unhappy!? Thank you for putting down the people who make society function: who save lives and cure illnesses (doctors who work 90+ hours a week), who fight for our freedom (soldiers who are sent overseas and can't see their family for over 9 months), who win life-changing cases for innocent people (lawyers who dedicate their lives to helping the world), who serve us lunch (working double shifts to pay for their kids' school supplies), who clean up our mess at the frozen yogurt shop (while going to school and balancing an unpaid internship in the hopes of getting that "life-sucking" desk job) - the dead-inside people who are not living their "truth."
Your world can be a happy world, even if it involves a desk and the numbers 9 & 5.
If everyone just quit the jobs that aren't their "truths," the world would stop working. I don't understand where anyone learned that work was supposed to be consistently and undoubtedly weightless, that life is supposed to be a giant, never-ending trip to Bali where we all drink bloody mary's whilst perusing Princess Diana coffee table books on the beach in a bikini every single day (that's my truth).
There are also an immense amount of factors that one must overcome to even think about living any of their "truths" in order to finally be "happy." Even just simply being happy is a conscious effort that one has to pursue every single day. It's not as easy as these articles proclaim it to be.
Your desk job isn't killing you. Your perspective is killing you.
If your job is ruining your life, of course, reevaluate. Certainly, you should be in a place that you feel good about, but know that working is not always going to feel 100% right. It should be uncomfortable, hard, exhausting - but also rewarding and always a place to grow from. No matter what job you have, if it's your "truth" or not, you will wonder if it was the right decision or if there's somewhere else you should be - always. Know that people who quit their jobs, take that plunge to live their truth and succeed did so with a lot of courage, many failures, the right timing, a little bit of luck and the privilege to be able to do so .
So, let's change perspectives.
Let's stop telling people that it's wrong to be excited for Friday's. Let's stop sharing the idea that work is supposed to make you happy. You will always be the only person/place/thing that can do that. Let's try to understand that work can be just that - work. If you don't find your inspiration at the office, make sure you find it elsewhere. Find your "truth," and live it - it does not have to be your job.