How important is your job to you?

How important is our job to us is one big question we must all be willing to ask ourselves and what exactly are we willing to sacrifice in order to maintain that status.

We all have been jobless, hopeless and yearning for any kind of work. We are ready to do anything to get the job and keep it. Sometimes, we overdo things in order to impress our employers, families and ourselves and end up making certain compromises that hurt us for the rest of our lives. It’s however very simple, your job should never make you sacrifice these aspects of your life:

Family:
When all is said and done, it is family that stands by us. When we hit rock bottom and need someone to slap the reality back into our lives, we look to family. Family is not just  parents, spouse, children, brothers and sisters but also those true friends who stand by you through thick and thin. When your job makes you ignore your family, you start to get to work when the children are asleep, weekends are no longer family times anymore, your real friends take a back seat, etc, it is time to rethink. When you keep getting invited to family functions but you can’t show up constantly because there is still some pending job in the office or you are afraid the boss might look for you and you are not available, before you know it, the invites stop to come and everyone forgets about you. You only realize how important your family is when you finally receive that termination letter from the HR office and you don’t have anyone else to turn to. Family will push you to be the best you can be, they will cheer you on, hold you down when there is need, but once you get to the top, it’s important you do not forget their sacrifices.

Health:
Sometimes, we overwork ourselves so much that it impacts our health. We begin to suffer from fatigue, back pains, migraines and sometimes very serious health issues. We then spend so much money seeing specialists after specialists for ‘illnesses’ that would be treated by simply taking some time off and resting. The truth of the matter is that you will never be able to complete all the work in one day, so live to fight again tomorrow. The other truth is that if you died today from health complications arising from overworking yourself or natural causes, your employer will not close down. A good one will mourn you for a week or so, probably purchase your coffin and attend your funeral. Then they will come back and start looking for your replacement. Learn to love yourself enough to rest because you are more useful to yourself and your family when you are alive and healthy. Work is not always a matter of life and death.

Values:
Our values is what makes us who we are. We are all known in our circles, work places and families by the values we stand for. When your job requires you to lie, cut corners and roll over everyone on your way, you are headed the wrong path. Integrity is one of the most important values any human being must have. An employee without integrity is corruptible and will sell you to your competitors without blinking an eye. The legacy you leave behind when you are gone is from the values you live by. We all admire someone and wish to be like them, and that’s because of the values they uphold.

So love your job, do it with all your heart, stay honest and true to yourself and others and most importantly, uphold justice and fairness in your work. Jobs come and go but family, health and values, not quite! Do not compromise on them or apologize for staying true to them.