On the Job Humor (OJH)

"I've been beat up so much over this, I wish I could retire." - a coworker about 20 years my senior

For the better part of an afternoon earlier this week, a few of my coworkers and I edited a document.  To be fair, in terms of what we do, it is a pretty important document.  They went back and forth, offending and getting offended by each other.  I offered my opinion here and there.  After all, if this is what I'm being asked to do for my paycheck, I'll do it.  But that's all it was, a task to be completed.  If my inputs were rejected by the group (and they were, more often than not), I didn't take it personally.  And, until now, I have barely thought about it since that afternoon.

Why?  Because I don't really care.  Don't get me wrong, when I do a job, I do it well.  But, in this case, we were discussing semantics and it was largely a matter of personal preference.  Oh, and I don't really need this particular job.  If worse came to worse, Mr. B and I could easily and immediately liquidate enough assets to cover our expenses for the next 8 years.  If we tapped into our less liquid investments, maybe up to 12 years.  Of course, I'm sure it would completely crush my spirit to take an 8 year hiatus only to start back at financial ground zero, so I do appreciate the fact that this particular job is a great vehicle for my journey to the ultimate goal of complete financial freedom.  At the same time, this particular job is not the only job out there.  And given our 8-12 year cushion, either me or Mr. B could certainly take our time finding something that is a better fit if our current jobs started to affect our personal lives or emotions too much.

That's the beauty of the journey to financial freedom.  We are still far from our end goal, but we're already at a point where we do not feel trapped in our jobs.  Because that's all they are to us - jobs.  A means to an end.  They do not get much weight in our day-to-day lives or emotions and they certainly do not define us as individuals.