Pros and Cons

We all have dreams right? (Duh). 

But sometimes reality doesn't fit into those dreams and our dreams start to become malleable based on what you've come to experience.

At least this is what happened to me.

I LOVE to write and I LOVE to read and I LOVE the media world. I love magazines, newspapers, television news, radio news. I love it and could see myself thriving in any of those careers. That is just not my reality right now.

I worked by butt off for a year for an online magazine and it really caused me re-evaluate what was important to me in a career. During that time I got to do something I really love, maybe it wasn't on a platform that I completely loved, but I had so much free reign and a huge chance to be creative and hone my skills. That being said it was also a job that really didn't offer a lot for me growth wise. The pay wasn't nearly enough to support myself, I have to work other jobs just to stay afloat and there was no change of getting more money in such a small company that was not expanding. I had the job in the back of my mind for much longer than the 20 hours a week that I was working it and it wasn't always positively. Honestly I felt like I wasn't being valued for what I was doing and understandably so, the company was small, I was so new, and it didn't look like things were changing. 

I decided to find a new job, maybe not one in my desired field, but one that had all the things that I felt that I was missing during that time. I wanted stable work for a good pay. One that made me feel valued, secure and offered me the opportunity to actually grow. That's how I ended up in the call centre of an insurance company.

The big difference here is that on the days when I don't like my job, I still feel happy about it because it gives me so much to feel good about.

And I do love getting up every day and actually getting dressed, interacting with people, and learning. This job offers me a ton of possibility to grow and move forward. 

Best of all: I can leave it here at the end of the day. Evenings and weekends are mine to explore the things I want to explore. Maybe to write more, read more, spend the night rock climbing, or just lying in bed guilt-free. And with a decent paycheque coming in regularly I feel secure. I can go on vacation, I can plan to have a house. I can actually live my life without scraping my way through it.

There are pros and cons but right now I think I'll focus on all the pros.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Optimist