The Home Work-Study Balance
I remember when during job training at a well-know Canadian business the owner told us that life was too short to do something we hated. There are benefits to being self-employed.
Originally my plan upon graduating from university was to jet overseas for graduate school or find a nice cushy 9-5 job in an office somewhere where I could make money to continue to drive, ride horses and of course eat and have a place to live.
However, like many university graduates this did not happen. I could not afford to go to graduate school nor could I find employment. Instead, after much waiting, searching job boards and visiting my local government funded employment centre, I only found temporary or part-time customer service oriented employment (after being rejected from even McDonald's) that caused more stress than any amount of money could ever compensate for. If money could, given the actual wages I earned, the time needed to compensate for the amount of stress I endured on the job would take hours from future generations.
The upside to this time in my life was that I was able to discover the benefit of having the freedom to enjoy the day--visiting with friends and seeing their children grow, experiencing the sun from the start of the day to its setting outdoors, and exploring the city I lived in so that upon moving I could look back and not have any regrets.
I found there was too much I wanted to see and experience in the brevity of life that I would miss during the 9-5. Additionally, the free-time allotted to me allowed me to uncover and utilize new skills that permitted me to work from home (or anywhere for that matter) while studying. Life is too short to wait for someone else to determine your future and to not use the opportunity of being jobless or not where you had planned to be to pursue the balance of life that works in accordance with your purpose and passions as an individual.
"This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labour under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them,to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart" Ecclesiastes 5:18-20.
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