A lot of my friends find it funny that though the job I do is so different from all the conventional jobs they’ve chosen, I seem to be happier and more passionate about it than they can ever feel. It’s harder for them to fathom this especially since I also do the very dreaded “Night Shifts.”
Having had multiple opportunities of switching to a relatively normal job with a more socially acceptable “Work Timing”, when I refused to move, a close friend very rightly said, “You must have something that keeps making you go back, day in and day out…oops....I mean night in and night out..:)”
I thought about what he said and realized that he was absolutely right. Until then, I had never introspected on what made me tick about my job. That day, for the first time, I realized how truly, madly, deeply, and desperately in love I was. I had unknowing and wonderfully fallen in love….surprisingly with my “Job”.
I wonder why my ultra professional friends with their coveted “day jobs” and excellent benefits have to still drag themselves to work daily despite their humongous salaries. Why does work seem to them like an obligation though it was their preferred career option? Don’t get me wrong…there are people who do the same job that I do and still find it a drag. But since everyone assumes that the grass is greener on the other side, I find these detractors from the greener pastures odder, especially because they not only lived up to the expectations and hopes of their families but also the high standards set up by society. Yet they are dissatisfied with their choices today and are surprised by my passion for my job.
So, may be the satisfaction you derive from your job is not just from the salary, the shifts, the travel benefits and from being the envy of your neighbors. Although I must admit that the above are definitely “icing” on the cake. But how many think of baking a “Great Cake” first?
When I chose my job, I followed my heart. I do what I do regardless of all the above benefits. I love the opportunities I have every day to innovate and create. I love the challenge and excitement of being a part of the pioneering force in a budding industry.
I do my job well because I don’t know any other way. The benefits just follow. Does my “night shift” bother me or stop me from giving more than my 100%? I don’t allow it to do that. I control my thoughts and my life and not the other way round.
Also, I wonder if the army protecting us at the frontiers like so many others working in our industry demands a “day shift” as well.
The doctors and nurses I am sure don’t leave their patients unattended at night just because, they want day shifts. Don’t flights still take off quite a few times daily during the night? I wonder what the social life and health of the pilots and the flight crew looks like. Be it security guards working at night or astronomers who work especially during the night, the world is full of nocturnal beings like us. Even the Earth doesn’t stop its rotation and revolution just because it’s night time.
Man is not a “Dinosaur” who will become extinct because he couldn’t adapt to the changing world. Agreed, that our challenges are more unique than those of others. The theory of “Evolution” however, still applies to everyone regardless of their shift timings. Survival of the fittest will continue.
I think the idea of being “Super Nocturnal Beings” is kinda cool. So what if you have to be more careful about your health and eating habits than those around you? So what if you have to make more effort to keep in touch with friends and family because you sleep during the day? So what if you are still working on getting yourself adjusted to this new world? Eventually it will all work out. And anyway, who said “making history” was going to be easy…But that’s exactly what we are doing here, ”Building History, one block at a time.”
All the best.
