Finding happiness in your job

Do you think this generation has it easier or worse than the last generation in terms of work?

For many, it feels worse. Many of us are in an office job and yet, feel far from satisfied. For those of us in a professional job, we look back in envy at our fathers' generation - they did well enough to easily save up for a landed property within a few years of work, for the lawyers, doctors and engineers among us? I don't think any of us can really do that within a few years. We probably have to be shackled to our mortgage and jobs for a few decades if we bought that landed property. Our fathers' generation had no blackberries, smartphones, emails. And no law suits (even if there were, there were few and far between). They commanded respect just by being a university grad armed with a degree. Our time? I am sure we know of some professionals but are deeply dissatisfied with their jobs.

However, i think the key difference is that if we were born in our fathers' generation, very few of us would have got our university degree. Only the very rich or the very intelligent would have made it to university and get the degree. Most of us would not have made it so far. So it is not a fair apples to apples comparison. There is an education inflation everywhere in the world.

Those who are earning a lot of money are now in the financial industry. Bankers, lawyers servicing the finance industry are the ones racking in the cash. Bankers way more so than lawyers. But everyone seems unhappy. With a year long bonus, some still whine that it is not enough for the pain they go through. i wonder why.

sometimes i think that the human being is not made to sit behind a computer editing word documents, or keying in formulas in excel spreadsheet, or drafting long unwieldy emails to confuse others. Doing 9 hours of this kind of work vs 3 hours in the hot sun? Most of us would choose the 9 hours of office bound job. But perhaps this is not what the human body was made for. We can't see the fruits of our labour. The email we type? we can' see how it affects others or make a change in the physical world. And perhaps that is why, the paper pushing lawyers, the excel spreadsheet bankers are just clamoring for more money, more money as a salve to their pain. The pain which they do not even understand.

My take? We can't stop the modern madness. Get in touch with nature. With people. With the sakura flowers that are blooming everywhere, organise a little picnic with your family. I think that is the only way to balance out the glowing screens that is sucking the happiness from our jobs. And most importantly, count your blessings. Breathe. Smile. Live. Exercise.