How do you do it... I am struggling....

slim wrote:but everyday i feel like i am having an anxiety attack because i want to climb instead. its like i am pacing the floor like a lunatic. i wish i could live in stereo or something.

nicely put

There is only one obvious cure for you, post on Mountain Project forums. That should make you feel better.

Rick Blair wrote:There is only one obvious cure for you, post on Mountain Project forums. That should make you feel better.

bingo

jmac wrote:Quit. Life is too short to be miserable 50 hours a week. I am in the same boat and just quite. (This is my last week at work!) Everyone also told me I am crazy to quit in this Economy but you can't plan your life around what the rest of the world is doing. With that said I don't have kids or really any responsibility and am not looking for another job, instead traveling, so the economy effects me less than most. Edit to fix my first grade spelling errors.

I just did the same thing. I've been off work for about three weeks now. My girlfriend and I are moving to Denver on Monday. No joke.

Actually, my boss didn't tell me we were crazy; he said he wished he had the balls to do that when he was young.

We are pretty good at living cheap and have been saving for this for about 8 or 10 months. My goal is to (eventually) find enough temporary work so I can work when I want and still get paid enough to get by. With that said, if I don't have something by May, I will probably need to sign up for the Colorado bar exam... So I don't know if you could consider this 'advice' (ask me in 6 months), but it's what we are doing.

Edit: Also, I know that this post is about 'coping' with your job, but my response would be that my only way to 'cope' was to quit my job.

I was at war inside my mind for quite some time about work. I sit in a cube all day staring at a computer talking on the phone, wishing I could be outside climbing and having fun, being in nature………… I did the walk around the block when I wanted to scream and strangle my co-workers, or the person I was selling to. I felt that was a good was to disperse the immediate frustration, but you need to come to terms with life for yourself in a bigger picture. Smoking a tobacco pipe has become a very calming activity that I can do at lunch and reflect about life; this helped me a lot more then other smoking alternatives that kill the finances and were causing other mental issues and actually causing me more stress.

I also find comfort in quotes from various sources on a daily basis. Starting the day with a bit of motivational advise to set your mind right sometimes helped me get through the day. I have a copy of INSPIRATION 365 by Zig Ziglar as well as other quote books.

“It’s all in your head” – The Beatles

“Getting in touch with your true self must be your first priority.”
Tom Hopkins

“The most intense conflicts, if overcome, leave behind a sense of security and calm that is not easily disturbed. It is just these intense conflicts and their conflagration which are needed to produce valuable and lasting results.”
Carl Gustav

I am finally coming to terms with everything in my head finally, and wish you the best at doing the same. I at least for the moment am feeling good about putting in a hard days work and earning my pay as my forefathers did. Americans are a hard working folk, always have been (at least the ones that make a difference); that is why we became the greatest country on earth. I think that Ian hit the nail on the head; putting in your all = makes you feel good. Days at work are not paradise, but that doesn’t mean you have to make it hell. The choice of how you feel about it is ultimately up to you.

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our mind.” – Bob Marley

Your vocation is the place where your deep gladness meets the world's deep need. (Fredrick Buechner)

Maybe because of external forces you have to do things you don't like to facilitate your true vocation; virtue is important. But to what end? What does your job really afford you? We are all slaves to something. What will you serve?

Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Give to God what belongs to God. Does anything belong to Caesar? The money has his face on it, do you have his image on you? It will be hard to re-evaluate things, to truly think instead of live in the bad habits of your slavery. The wide road is the one you're on.

Says the sinner living in Minnesota, with northern Wisconsin to look forward to...

pat vernon wrote: Here's my experience. I've worked in restaurants on and off for fifteen years now. I hate it, waiting tables is literally soul sucking work. -Pat

amen to that.
tip your server. it sucks being your bitch.

Hopefully I can get a job as an Aero Engineer when I graduate so I never have to do that again.

Phil Lauffen wrote: Hopefully I can get a job as an Aero Engineer when I graduate so I never have to do that again.

ya sure bout that? its not all its cracked up to be. dont believe everything they pump into you at those BS degree factories.

Your job doesn't sound like career path material, so you need to do two things: 1. save money, and 2. formulate a plan for moving on to something more meaningful.

I quit my first job out of grad school (which I knew wasn't for me and after saving wads of cash). I got the same whispered comments from others I worked with about how they'd love to do the same thing if not for family, mortgage, etc.

I was really gratifying short term. I travelled to Nepal, India, Thailand. Went trekking, temple hopping, beach flopping, etc. Apart from the airfare, it was really cheap to travel, and rewarding. It did get lonely at times, however (but that's probably just me), and in some respects I felt like I was postponing the rest of my life. Having said that, I have absolutely no regrets and I probably wouldn't be where I am now if I hadn't taken the plunge. I probably won't have the time to take a trip like that again until I retire, and then I may be too broken down to do it the same way.

As good as all that was, it was really grim getting back into it. Looking for work was tough and demeaning. I interviewed with complete asswipes just for the chance at some income and to pad my resume. After a LONG time, I eventually found a temporary position with a nonprofit that eventually introduced me to a bunch of good people and seguewayed into what I'm doing now, which is pretty fulfilling and lucrative. I don't climb much, but that's more a function of career, family and two small kids.

Life's too short to be stuck doing something that'll never take you anywhere, but being unemployed and a bum is equally grim. If you need to change your life path do it, but do it smart, not half ass impulsive.

Tom H,

been laid off since April, absolutely no responses for this 54 yr. old white, straight, somewhat educated dude. Only put out about 5 resumes and e-mails every day with no replies. Might be cutting grass at the golf course.

WiledHorse wrote: ya sure bout that? its not all its cracked up to be. dont believe everything they pump into you at those BS degree factories.

I'm not expecting daisies and rainbows but at least it won't be completely mind-numbing(hopefully).

The idea is to get a useful degree instead of some arts and crafts degree where I'll go back to working for 4 bucks an hour and tips while still not having enough time to climb.

Phil Lauffen wrote: amen to that. tip your server. it sucks being your bitch. Hopefully I can get a job as an Aero Engineer when I graduate so I never have to do that again.

Ha! I was a waiter all through school and now I am a mechanical engineer. I enjoyed being a waiter 100 times more than an engineer. The money was not nearly as good but not sitting at a computer all day was sooooooooooo much better.

Agree with jmac. I much preferred working as a line cook or waiter to my current gig, though i like my current paycheck a lot better.

JLP wrote: If you want a wonderful life of climbing, career happiness, lots of money, free time - you're going to have to work hard and [f'ing] earn it.

Is it really true that you reap what you sow? I think we all reap the same thing in the end - death. We all get what we deserve, and it's the same thing for us all.

What is this 'wonderful life' you speak of? It seems like security. And it is good to have security. But it can be taken away so easily, as Tom and others have pointed out here.

You are not in control of your life. This is one important lesson that climbing has taught me, along with other 'failures' in my life.

I am struggling with huge student debt and a 'career' that is highly insecure, difficult, and NOT lucrative. But I live in hope, that the pain of the present time is not worth the glory about to be revealed. Nothing can separate us from love, not as an ideal purely, but also as a very present reality. Love in ourselves, in every breath, in every person around us, in all of creation. Hope on! Maybe if you keep hoping, this post will end!

Choke back your ADHD. Ask the MAN for more responsibility. Perform your duties to your best. And keep it real (watch Super Troopers again if you have to - or reread Mike Lanes comments).
Thank Gawd you have a job to complain about (trite, but damn honest). . . may help with perspective.

Someone said we are alive/living for a LONG time. But that just ain't true my friend. It's horribly short. . . and you should give it that respect.

Keep it real, meow.

Scott Thalacker wrote: Is it really true that you reap what you sow? I think we all reap the same thing in the end - death. We all get what we deserve, and it's the same thing for us all. What is this 'wonderful life' you speak of? It seems like security. And it is good to have security. But it can be taken away so easily, as Tom and others have pointed out here. You are not in control of your life. This is one important lesson that climbing has taught me, along with other 'failures' in my life.

Wow, that's pretty bleak, and misinformed. You're 27 and you already know everything life has in store for you? Think again.

There are things in life you cannot control, true. But you are in control of your life and the decisions you make. If climbing should have taught you anything, it's that.

This is going to sound kind of trite, maybe even stupid, but when I took that aforementioned trip to India, I was on an overnight train to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, etc., and I was really anxious to get there. It had been a long trip, a long train ride and I'd heard so much about the place. It was raining outside and lightning started blazing. I look out the window and there were all these pilgrims dressed in white standing under an awning with the rain pouring and the lightning blazing and it was one of the most amazing scenes I've ever scene. It occured to me that my perspective of having to get someplace--Agra--was just wrong. Most of life is spent getting to some predetermined point. If I didn't take the time to enjoy the journey, all the little things along the way, I was missing out. I think I've always known that, but that moment really brought it home. (Plus, there's so much tremendous poverty in that country, people in such bleak situations that they are powerless to change, that I learned never to take my life for granted again, and I haven't.)

There are always rough days. But when I have them, I take a step back and look at all the good things I have and though it's not always easy I know I can deal with it. That's one thing climbing has taught me.

Fat Dad wrote: It occured to me that my perspective of having to get someplace--Agra--was just wrong. Most of life is spent getting to some predetermined point. If I didn't take the time to enjoy the journey, all the little things along the way, I was missing out. . . . I take a step back and look at all the good things I have and though it's not always easy I know I can deal with it. That's one thing climbing has taught me.

+1 Daddio

It's not about the summit. . . it's about the climb.

Hate your job? Got a few bucks saved up? I'd bail if I was you. Go on roadtrip for a year; by the time you run out of cash, either a) the economy will be improved and you can get better work, or b) the economy will be so bad that EVERYONE will be broke and you'll be in good company.

OTOH, if you're really a rockin' climber and can tell good stories, people will probably buy you beer--so you might not actually have to work.

Seriously...you're the captain of your ship, so don't be afraid to change course. I shitcanned two previous "careers" because I didn't like the work, and thank God I did--I like the job I have now and don't begrudge the occasional powder/climbing day spent working instead. There's no reason to keep hammering away at a job you hate when there's an alternative, even if the alternative is being "gainfully unemployed."

I just found out I'll be working thru the weekend without any days off. I'll then start back to work Sunday evening and continue thru probably Friday. This will be about 12 days straight of 12 hr shifts too. All aboard the pain-train!

I always knew that I needed to go to India. Maybe someday after retirement. If I find a job to retire from. :)