Grateful

Okay, so I am grateful for many things in my life...but this is going to be a list of the Top 10 Reasons I'm Grateful for my Job/Career. I find that the longer I go without a vacation the less I can deal with the everyday annoyances at work. I also find that about a week before my next vacation I start to freak out that I will not get all the things done that I absolutely MUST get done before I go on vacation. It's been about 5 months since my last vacation. And, Friday is my last day before being out for a week. So, I'm in crunch time right now. And, for those reasons and a bunch more, not feeling very grateful.

But...I received a note from a friend this afternoon because she had "one of those days" at work. So, it's for her I'm writing this list. I hope that something on here will resonate with her or, at the very least, make her smile.

So, in no particular order...

1. At its core, my job is about helping people achieve their long term goals. And, how many of us gets to say that?
2. Most of the time (>50% anyway), I'm pretty good at it.
3. I have the best boss/mentor in the world. Who, I have to say, thinks I'm the cat's meow. Isn't that awesome?
4. I get 5 weeks of vacation a year. This year I started with 7 because I rolled two from last year. There's no way I'll be able to take it all...but, still - pretty cool.
5. In a country where people pay a fortune for crappy health insurance or have none at all, my company pays for my pretty decent plan. Yes, spoiled. Very spoiled, I know.
6. I work at a bank that did not take any TARP money (and didn't do any of those bad bank things) and who most people have never heard of. That anonymity's been pretty sweet over the last two years.
7. I laugh at least once, and most of the time way more than that, a day.
8. People I respect think I'm smart. And, most days, I feel smart.
9. I was hired as a secretary and am now a Senior Vice President. Not a lot of places you can do that.
10. When the head of the office found out that my mom was sick, he told me that the most important thing was to do what I needed to do for my family. That whatever time I needed to take off, I should take off. And I believe him. My boss was even more generous - basically working over her entire two week vacation because that was when Mom was first diagnosed and had brain surgery and I wasn't in the office that much.

Listing those came pretty easy to me...there are a lot more that I haven't included here. I bet that if you think about it, each of you can list your own ten reasons why your grateful for your job. We should all do that once in a while. There's always going to be stuff that makes us crazy...but if you like (or love, like me) what you do and the company you do it for (at least most of the time), get paid a decent (or more than decent) wage, and are respected? Well then, try to focus on the positive. Especially when you leave for paradise in 3 work days (7 days total). That's my goal. Remind me of that when I blog the Top 10 Reasons I Hate my Job. ;)