A Case of the Mondays

Yes, I know today is Wednesday. I'm sure most of you get the reference to the movie Office Space, and can appreciate that Monday feeling. The fact that I'm writing this while in my cubicle only adds to the subject of today's blog: perspective.

It's a word that I use all the time when I talk about being stressed out and just down in the dumps. "It could always be worse; it's all about perspective." Well, today that word really struck a chord with me on my way in to work. I walked past the landscaping crew getting out of their van and thought to myself, "Man, I would love to be working outside today." It was in that moment that I remembered my days of working at AutoZone and longing for a job where I could relax and get off my feet.  It's funny how your perspective changes along with the changes in your life. Five years ago I was a single guy who was living up the bachelor life. I went out to the bar every night and drank and smoked until the sun was coming up. Now I'm a happily married husband, with the most amazing wife and baby daughter, who's idea of a great night is sitting on the couch watching our favorite shows and curling up in bed by 10.

I started working in the sod fields with my father when I was just 12 years old, and it was by no means easy. My next job was as a server in a retirement home dining room. Not the most difficult or arduous job in the world, but never an easy one at that. Then came Lowes, where I loaded rain soaked bags of mulch and sheets of plywood into the backs of trucks all day. I moved onto AutoZone and sold parts all day, along with installing batteries and wipers. I even sold sunglasses for a while, in between two long stints with AutoZone. Then I came to where I am now and have been for almost two years. A lot of different jobs that had one thing in common with each other. I would always look at where I was at and say "Well, it's better than my last job." 

As I look forward to becoming a stay-at-home dad in a foreign country, I try to put things in perspective. I may be a man who's jumping into the unknown and don't have any idea where I'll be a decade from now, but one thing is very clear to me: my wife and daughter will be there with me every step of the way, and well, that better than anything else in the whole world.