The Truth About Vacations
I just got home from a vacation. Normally, people take vacations to relax, have fun, and enjoy some time away from the routine of normal life. However, when you hate your job, vacations are for a different purpose – to escape.
When I had a job that I liked, I looked forward to vacations, not to escape a life that I hated, but as a way to have fun and enjoy a different aspect of my life. I’ve always liked to travel, and after working hard and achieving goals at work, I liked to reward myself for a job well done by taking some time to travel and relax. I was able to enjoy my time away, just have fun and live in the moment. Afterwards, I would go back to work refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to dive back into my normal life and work.
Now that I hate my job, I plan vacations as an excuse to get away from work, to escape my normal life. When I’m away, I’m finally able to enjoy my life without feeling that something is dragging me down. Although, throughout the vacation, I have a feeling of dread in the back of my mind, an imaginary timer inside my head counting down the hours and minutes until I have to go back to the real world. When I do eventually find myself back at work, I don’t feel refreshed; I feel depressed. After getting a glimpse of a life where I’m happy, I’m even more miserable at work than when I left.
Since getting home from my most recent vacation, I’ve been more unhappy, depressed, and unmotivated than ever. I’ve always worked hard at every job I’ve had, but now I find it hard to care anymore. I’ve been unproductive and uninterested, characteristics that are unusual for me. I’m not proud of this. It’s not right that my unhappiness has a negative impact on my company. However, I feel…powerless to change it. That vacation, that glimpse into a different life, was like looking into a crystal ball and seeing how good life can be, and now I can’t go back. I can’t go back to my old, miserable existence.
The truth about vacations when you hate your job is that they are counterproductive. They cause you to take your eye off the ball and distract you at the very time when you need to be focused the most. Sure, you feel better about your life while you’re away, and vacations provide a temporary respite from a bad situation, but it’s just temporary, and it’s surely followed by depression and heightened lack of motivation. Instead of escaping to a fantasy world, you should stay in the real world in your real life and focus your attention on improving your reality. If you want to change your reality and find real happiness (like I do), vacations are a setback. Why settle for a fantasy world when, with a little work, your real life can be just as great?
When you hate your job, vacations do not help, but hinder, the ultimate goal – to find a job you love. Instead, set your priorities and stay focused. Then after you succeed in finding an awesome job you love, reward yourself and take a vacation!
