Review: How to Write Short: Word Craft for Fast Times

How to Write Short: Word Craft for Fast Times by Roy Peter Clark

My rating: 4 of 5 stars







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I Give Up!

 

In this case it’s not a bad thing.

I recently had this conversation with Evelyn:

Me: I’m not going to try anymore.

Evelyn: Okay?

Me: For months I’ve been applying for other positions at work thinking I needed to be doing more, or earning more, or learning more when I’m happy where I am. I mean, I have a job that I like, co-workers that I like and they like me, and I have a great boss. Who’s to say I would have any of those things in a new position or location? What happens if I’m not happy there? So I’m not going to try anymore.

Evelyn: Thank you.

 

So there you have it.

I’m content where I am and I’m not going to pressure myself to advance anymore.

This is a big step for me. I have never allowed myself to be content where I am. I have always felt I needed to be advancing in my career or I was failing. And that failure always translated into not only failure in my job but failure in my life.

I never stopped to look at where I had come from. My parents weren’t rich but we had what we needed, I was married at 19 with a part-time job, bankrupt at 25, unemployed at 36, unemployed again at 44; And yet here I am at 51, employed, a home owner, and happily married for 31+ years.

Not too bad in my opinion.

I’m sure all of my Linked-In connections will shudder when they read this post but the truth is I have had 2 “careers” that required me to be on call 24/7/365 or bring work home to meet a deadline. The stress was so bad at one point that my doctor suggested I quit my job because it was killing me, literally.

So when I was laid off the last time, I decided all I wanted was a “job”. No deadlines, no on-calls, no working from home. That’s what my current job is and I love it.

My first day there the library closed at 9pm and my co-workers shut down the PCs and left. I followed them out asking “Wait, that’s it?”

I was in my car and heading home by 9:04. I was stunned and a little lost but extremely pleased. The pay is not as good as a high pressure/high stress job but it’s not bad.

I guess all this rambling is just to confirm to myself that I am happy and content with my life as it is.

This also brings me back around to what has sort of become my life motto.

 

-The Good Life-
Living in the place you belong,
With the people you love,
Doing the right work,
On purpose.

 

It’s a quote from the book Repacking Your Bags: How to Live With a New Sense of Purpose by Richard J. Leider and David A. Shapiro (Mar 1999) and I have it hanging over my desk at home (the quote, not the book) and I use it as an email signature as a constant reminder and gauge as to how I’m doing.

I’m happy and leading the good life.

How are you doing today?

 

 

While writing this I was listening to " I Saw It" from "All in Good Time" by "Barenaked Ladies"