massage-itis
So,
I've been a little gloomy lately- hence the no new posts.
Some people hit road bumps and keep on driving, others (like myself) hit a road bump, lose a tire, break a windshield, forgets she didn't bring a purse and wait quietly for a tow truck.
I'm talking about my little ol' job here.
I like what I do.
I meet lots and lots of neet people.
I've just grown a little stagnant, I think.
I work for two different doctors.
One of them hits on everything in a skirt, drives a hummer, bounces paychecks from time to time, and talks endlessly about how him having "no money" then shows pictures to his clients of his newly remodeled cabin. He's a jem, that guy.
Why do I stay? Well, the answer is simple: the clientele can't be beat.
I have been in that office for five years. I have done my time and in that time have established a HUGE client base. I usually book 2-3 weeks in advance, this means good luck getting an appointment if you are hurting tomorrow, probably won't happen. It's nice. It's job security. But that office sucks my will to live. My clients rule, my boss is an ass. The drive is somewhat short, but I'm in a box of a room all day long. 9 hours of darkness with twinkling candles.
I am also the queen bee at this office, I get booked first- no matter what.
The pay is pretty decent- with lots of room for more, depending on how many clients I can physically do.
My other boss is a saint. A totally professional family kinda guy, his wife even works in the front office. He's sweet and incredibly smart. My room in that office is airy. It has a window-natural daylight! Woo hoo! But I have no clientele at this office. Why? I am only there 1 day a week. It's hard to build a strong clientele when you are only offering 1 day for people to come and see you. The pay is excellent- when I have clients that is. The drive is slightly longer, but the ride is better.
The clients are fine, but pretty much all bushiness. They hardly know me.
I'm whining, I can feel it.
And really, this does not matter at all. What matters is I need to make the most of this profession. I need to find the joy and delight I once had and care about EVERYONE I work on, not just the people who are my favorites.
Here is a little known secret about being a massage therapist that no one talks about:
It wears you out.
Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, spiritually...
You give all day. Give therapy, give advice, give your heart, give encouragement, give hugs, give humor, give touch, give yourself.
And the at then end of the day, you are spent. Tapped out. Done. Fin. The End.
Any body out there? I need some advice. I am deathly afraid I am going to be one of those people who keeps changing professions every 10 years- and is that so bad?
I am taking a vacation at the end of this month hoping I will have a new out-look on, well...everything.
If one thing in your life is crappy, everything else will seem to follow.
Comments?
Questions?
posted by dropdeadred @ 9:20 PM
5 Comments:
Q: "Any body out there?"
A: I'm here.
Q: "I need some advice. I am deathly afraid I am going to be one of those people who keeps changing professions every 10 years- and is that so bad?"
A: Not if you're happy and always love what you do.
"If one thing in your life is crappy, everything else will seem to follow."
So, you see the shitter as half empty then?
Hmmm, that analogy hybridizing doesn't really work since it starts with a negative. Let me try again... It seems you're starting from a negative position, m'dear, and you see the shitter as half full and getting fuller. Is that really your world view? Are you a pessimist? Hard to be that and a hopeless romantic too. Perhaps more of temporary turd-colored glasses donned in a weak moment world vision is what this is. You're tired, clearly. You need that vacation and perhaps a good stiff drink, or a long walk along a beach and quite contemplation. Something to pull you out of the tailspin and perch you in a place where you have some better perspective than a 10'x12' dark room and a soundtrack of a norah jones tape loop. As the old sailor's song goes, "Drink what you have to drink and turn the glasses over..." But first, dump that shit out of your glass, girl, and wipe your glasses clean! (And be sure to mix your metaphor thoroughly. Rinse. Repeat.) Life is beautiful and scary and sad and frustrating sometimes but as the Taoist sage says, constant contact with soot and a person will turn black and everything that person touches will be stained, but contact with rouge sees the person turn pink and the world becomes rosy--therefore, the wise person chooses her friends carefully.
p.s. I'm here.
first off, i bet that being a massage therapist is very difficult...you are a healer, therefore you have to deal with downers almost all day long.... what you do is wonderful and it makes people feel better about themselves and if you can maintain that high that you get by making people feel better than you should stay in that profession... but if you can't...you need to get out and get out ASAP. there is no problem...that i can see with changing jobs every 10 years...hell i am planning on it! and don't ask too many people for advice...cause then you end up doing what they say and not what you think.
cheers and good luck
and fckin A start posting more!
My advice is not to make any decision when you are feeling really bad. Making a list of pros and cons sounds lame, but it can help put things in perspective.
I don't think changing jobs or careers every 10 years is such a horrible thing. And if you are loving what you do and you want to change it up every 10 years, so what! That's what's nice about living in the USA-- I say this because my cousins and a former boy friend who live in France are just LOCKED into the job they studied for, and wouldn't dream of leaving even if they hated their jobs. It's a bizzare notion for my French friends and family to think about going back to school for a change of career.. a narrow minded view of work & life I think, but that's the way they want to live.
It could be that you need your vacation to restore yourself and that afterwards you will be okay to continue with the two work locations you are in now. Or you will come back with a clear head and know just what path to take.
I have to agree with mallow.
Then again, I am just about to graduate from my second career... about ten years into my first.
Maybe I'm not the best one to ask.
Some times we have to do what we have to do for while, but if you look far enough ahead you will see there is a light at the end of that rubbing tunnel, and i promise it will all be worth it, and if not, we will have ten bottles of wine in one sitting just to see if that helps.. (:
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