A Happy New Year's gift...well, some advice really

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Greetings. Hail! Salutations! What up? HOLA! Howdy! Hello. Hi. Bonjour. Buenos dias. Hey there. The list goes on................

Anyway, to say what I came to say. My fellow watchers and deviants, there are many reasons why you and I like deviantART. Some of us enjoy it as a lark, others as part of a branch of our own personal network of connections on the Web, others because they're bored with normal life, others because they want to feel special, others because they want to be in a like-minded community, others because they love exploring the Internet, others because they love and admire art, others because they like to showcase their art, and others because they simply love art. Simply put, we all have our reasons for being members of dA, just as all my fellow watchers have their reasons for watching and faving my submissions. I won't even say the reasons why, since I'm sure they're too numerous.

However, we all have to stick to reality, and what's one common thing all or most of us share? We have to work to survive. To earn our keep. To save money. To keep busy. To enjoy the many pleasures of our world. We all have our reasons for working at the jobs we work at, whatever they may be, but I know for a fact that many of you probably dislike your jobs at best, hate them at worst with a burning fervor. Again, the reasons why are many: you're not getting paid enough, the place you work at is a shithole, you're not the favorite employee, you've got an overbearing boss or he's got an overbearing boss, the company's cutthroat with its employees, customers suck and insult you frequently, the work schedule's messed up, etc, etc, etc.

At the place where I work at, and yes I'm revealing a few things here, I have an uneven schedule (I almost never know which days I'll work, how many days I'll work in advance, so I have to set my days according to my schedule), the pay fluctuates depending on the days and hours I'm given, I'm somewhat over in debt, I've come into conflict with my bosses because they sometimes forget to respect my school schedule (I've had my work hours overlap my college schedule no less than eight times!), and so forth. Sometimes the job is really tiring or things conspire to make all go down to hell! Nevertheless, it's still my job and so I'm grateful to be employed, because being unemployed is a far worse fate to be in these times.

Now where am I getting at with all this? Simple. Given our possible shared experiences with crappy jobs, I've no doubt we've all probably had our own respective moments of losing our cool or complaining loudly about our jobs' misgivings and flaws. That's why I'm writing this journal- to give y'all some advice and a new perspective on how to view your individual jobs.

Everyone who visits my profile or who is an ardent watcher of mine knows for a fact that my favorite sci-fi and fantasy genre is Warhammer 40,000. That's one truth of mine. In this universe, war is unending, humanity is in a constant struggle of survival against intergalactic aliens, extradimensional demons, and of course, against itself. The factions, viewpoints, ideas, beliefs, and stories of Warhammer 40k are many and varied, each with certain virtues and modes of thinking. Well, to make my job more manageable (along with incorporating some personal spiritual beliefs of mine), I have put myself in semi-40k mindset when it comes to my job and the duties I have to do in said job. First off, I currently work at a dollar store, where I perform in various positions such as cashier, stocker, general maintenance, warehouse work, and so on. The work is diverse and busy. Given my erratic schedule, I've worked in each store shift, from early morn to after midnight. At first it was disconcerting, but now I've gotten a hang of it (except in finances, I need to get control of that back!), and part of this success has been due to my calm nature and spiritual outlook on life. For example, I've made it a personal ritual to pray and bless myself and the place where I work at before clocking in to my shift. That's what I meant by spiritual belief earlier; the rest of the time, I tend to view the job as the following.

A war. A nonstop, unending, unwinnable war..........that can be won.

I view the store where I work at as the constant battlefield where I meet my infinite foes. I view the messes of the store, the unclean shelves, the duties themselves, and even the customers as the enemy that must be fought and defeated each day if I am to achieve lasting victory. To put it another way, think of the Ancient Egyptian myth of Ra the sun god versus the demonic serpent Apophis. Each night, Ra had to fight that serpent and win so that mortal Earth could live another day. Apophis always returned each night, so Ra had to fight it again and again in a neverending battle. This is how I sometimes view my job: as an endless struggle and battle that must be won each day again and again, and every task and customer is an enemy that I must defeat.

Thus, I view the equipment I am given (cashier's register, warehouse gear, cleaning materials, and so on) as my holy weapons with which to do battle. To personify the Space Marines of 40k, these are my "bolter" and "chainsword" so to speak, the gear I use to perform my duties. As an employee, I am a righteous soldier engaging in my sacred duty on ensuring my battlefield (the store) never falls to the insanity of CHAOS!!!! CURSE THE RUINOUS POWERS!!!!!!

To me, the job well done at the end of each workday is the victory I deserve. The battle won. Thus satisfied, I return to my sanctum (home) to rest and prepare for tomorrow's fight, for the war is unending, unceasing, and a journey to be relished, experienced, and admired. That's how I stave off those self-defeating thoughts of "MY JOB SUCKS!" or "I HATE MY WORK!" I don't think my job sucks; it's not what I wanted, but it's better than nothing, and it isn't that bad. It also gives me the opportunity to seek better jobs, since I am now an experienced veteran and future employers will want my skills.

So there you have it. My gift to y'all is advice on how to imagine your jobs. Picture them as the battleground, and you are the soldier who must fight and emerge victorious at the end of each day. You won't win each time (it's like flipping a coin and expecting heads or tails every single time; can't be done! Damn you, law of averages!), but at least you'll gain a record of victories and rewards under your belt. In the end, that's all we can really strive for, innit?

Oh, one other thing. By now, most of you know I now have a Tumblr account, name ultimusterra5. I'm going to try something new. My Tumblr account will serve as the "proving ground" for my latest artworks; I'll post them on Tumblr, finished or not, before posting them here on dA, where they'll be fully completed. Go to my Tumblr and see the previews of my newest works (I'll inform in advance here on dA by a quick journal). Leave your commentaries either on Tumblr or my main profile here on dA. We'll see how it goes.


Fare thee well!!!
© 2017 - 2024 terraluna5
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Happy New Year to you as well. Keep up the good fight in life.