You Ought To Love Your Job

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You Ought to Love Your Job

It's hard, I know. The "daily grind" takes over, boring us while we pay pills, mow the lawn and struggle to find the energy to cook dinner. Suddenly it's months later and you feel as if you haven't accomplished anything except paying those bills and passing time. All of a sudden you're twenty-five (or older! insert your crisis age here) and you're paying school loans even though your current occupation has nothing to do with even attending college.

Or is it just me?

You find yourself dealing with the mythical (and yet very real) quarter-life crisis and you don't even have the money to buy that Harley like your dad did during his midlife.

You ought to love your job. Most people settle for misery because it is work. A paycheck is involved, this economy doesn't want you to work. I'll be the first to admit I don't love my job, but luckily I don't hate it. I've had my fair share of lying managers, drama filled co-workers and sexual harassment.

Despite all of this, (though luckily my current job lacks all of the aforementioned drama) there are moment while I'm at work that I feel very grateful for where I am. It has nothing to do with the paycheck (although I am also very grateful to have a job) or the benefits (again, I couldn't appreciate this more), the enjoyment I get from my job have everything to do with simple occurrences during the day.

Here are a few examples of those times during my day when I feel as if I absolutely love my job: when my manager is in a super good mood, when the bank buys is lunch, every time I finish reading a novel or a writing a blog entry, the house lunches I spend exploring downtown, extremely grateful customers, sweet old ladies, when a customer brings in hot chocolate, when I am able to finish drafting a letter or complete a Moleskine or make after-work plans with co-workers. We won a "display" contest for the current free gift and I absolutely love when amazing songs come on the work radio (it consists of the best combination of Elton John, Lady Gaga, Counting Crows and Plain White T's).

So here's the deal; forget for the moment about why you hate our job or what you'd rather be doing. Instead focus right now on what you love about your job, and let me know. I'd love to hear it.

Ten Ways to Make Your Work Day Brighter

Ten Ways to Make Your Work Day Brighter

Wear perfume you really love.

Write anonymous notes to your co-workers.

Put extra special love and yumminess into your bagged lunch.

Wash your face on one of your breaks. Exfoliate and tone, or use a face mask during your lunch.

Suck on chocolate covered altoids.

Make a list of your favourite customers / co-workers / people.

Pin up an inspiring picture, or a photograph of someone you love by your work space.

Match your nail polish to your shirt every day.

Take a "smoke break" and stretch your muscles or do a few yoga poses.

Bake something at home and bring it in to share with everyone.

A Sort of Confession

A Sort of Confession

Penny Days is about HAPPINESS. It's about finding it and creating it and living a life worth living. It's about the magic in every day life, the same magic we are often too busy or too absorbed or too blind or too confused or too sad or too anything else to see. It's about taking that feeling you get from reading an incredible piece of fiction and manifesting it into your real life. It's about how I am managing to do these things.

So now for my confession; I am not happy. I've been struggling with depression and anxiety for years and only recently have I begun to heal from these struggles. I don't intend to post entries that are simple ranting about my problems, nor do I wish to explain how my depression is not circumstantial (a fact I had to explain to my baby brother a month ago when I tried to confess to him that the medication I was on was just not working). He's twenty-one by the way and not so much a baby at all.

The reason I'm bringing this up is to come clean, so to speak. I have no interest in pretending I am someone I'm not, and I want to reflect that my hope for this blog is that it motivates me to find happiness and to be happy and to create magic and love every day. I also hope you'll join me on this journey and maybe even benefit yourself.


♥
Melanie

Things That Might Make Me Feel Better

Things That Might Make Me Feel Better

This was a list I found in my Moleskine, not intended to be used as any sort of blog post but I believe it's a good example and representation of who I am and also who I want Penny Days to be. This blog is designed to be a reflection of myself, but also I want it to be so much more than that. I want it to be documentation of how I change and how I become (become who? you ask! Why I'm not sure yet. It's all part of the process!). But I also want it to be something that you can read and relate to. I want it to be a resource for someone who might be going through something similar to what I am going through. So I made this list as a reminder of things that I love and things that I can do to help bring myself out of the ruts that I get into. My problem is that I never really feel like doing anything when I'm sad or anxious or overwhelmed. But right now, I am just focusing on the list.

Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream
Hiding out in libraries
Bying a new book
Taking Chance for a walk
Going out to dinner with a friend
White Zinfindel
Reading blogs
Yoga
Naps
Manicures
Swimming
Make a mix CD
Write a letter to someone I haven't heard from in a while
Read a book by SARK
Make lists
Listening to music
Leave love comments on Facebook
Cover myself in glitter
Do handstands
Spend time with a toddler

Do you have a go-to list of things that cheer you up? What are your favourites?


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Saturday Seven 07

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♥ Saturday Seven ♥
A whole lot of lovin' this week...

♥ Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland
♥ Phone calls from my friend Juli who I haven't heard from since November
♥ Watching Trent (My friend Ari's two year old boy) experience Indian food (mostly he just ate rice/ spilled it all over himself and the floor)

♥ Pushing Daisies, which happens to be one of my all time favourite television shows. During one of the extras, Bryan Fuller (the creator) mentions that he's a huge fan of Amelie, which explains where a lot of the aesthetics from the television show come from.
♥ Buying a yoga mat - I am one step closer to taking classes!
♥ Impromptu sleepovers in the middle of the week -- especially when they include make your own ice cream sandwiches and Indian food for dinner
♥ All right, Indian food has to go on here. My favourite meal would be: Vegetable Samosas, Garlic Naan, Chicken Tikka Marsala with a Mango Lassi to wash it all down. I've currently been craving Indian more than normal lately.

We will return to our regularly scheduled programs on Monday, which will include semi-regular blog postings from now on. But in the mean time... what did you love this week?

♥
Melanie

Sunday Seven 06

(I got yelled at for taking this picture
on my phone. Silly. Either way, I WANT!
I told Shaylin it was going to be my
Maid of Honour dress for her wedding.
I hope she didn't think I was kidding.)

Sunday Seven
Seven whole days with lots to love <3

♥ Green Smoothies - I've been trying to make them every morning. So far I succeeded in two morning this past week
♥ Having a Saturday night date night with myself (it's necessary guys, seriously). Time Traveler's Wife + a meatless sub with everything + the living room to myself + lots of pillows and blankets = awesome
♥ Zumba! - an update of my experience to follow later this week
♥ My Hello Kitty Humidifier
♥ Lunch and Boston dates with Lindsay. This makes no sense considering my love for Italy, but today was my very first experience on Hanover St. which is part of Boston's "North End" also known as the extremely Italian part of the city. We didn't eat there, unfortunately, but that doesn't mean I left Boston without a Cannoli!
♥ Lush's Coco Lotion - I'm convinced that coconut oil is a miracle oil. Either way this stuff makes my skin so soft!
♥ Gmail Chat - I shouldn't use this function at work, I shouldn't use this function at work, I shouldn't use this function at work...


What did you love this week, guys?

♥ Melanie

Taking The Week Off

Taking The Week Off

Okay, so the title is slightly misleading, I have no upcoming vacation week that I'm making use of (though I wish I did. It would make my time this week much more productive. Either way, I'll have to make due). But I've vowed to not make plans with anyone this week, which is unusual for me. There are nights I feel panicked and too alone, annoyed that my friends are too busy to hang out. There are nights when I invite myself on dates (well, you know, less formal of course) with my brother and his girlfriend. I text everyone I know, I wonder what they're doing, I force myself out on long drives that end at Borders with blended drinks and stacks of books. I must admit first that I have made a few exceptions to this "no plans" thing, as I have plans on Wednesday night with K*, my friend I haven't seen in what feels like years. And also I told my mom I would partake in Zumba with her at her gym tomorrow (which is good considering taking a Zumba class is part of my 25 of 25 list -- that has yet to be posted, because I've yet to complete the making of it)

But regardless. I wrote a huge list in my Moleskine this afternoon of things I could do on my break week. Nothing on this list is any different than the usual lists I make of things to do. Except I have the intentions of actually attempting them. Making bread is on this list (and also part of my 25 of 25. Coming soon, I promise) as is writing lots of blog posts and watching movies I haven't seen. Or watching Gilmore Girls which I've seen many times (and am currently watching). I think that knowing I am not making plans makes me feel calmer than knowing there is no one to make plans with. I (possibly) won't deny plans if someone else wants to make them, but it's nice to be by myself for a while without feeling like I need to be doing something else. I am also taking this time to explore Google Docs. I'd like to take Chance on many walks and take a yoga class. I've been figuring out my finances, and creating a budget that I hope to stick with. It's only the beginning of the week and I feel so productive! I will report back at the end of this week my findings (or failures or productivity rate).

If you could take the week off and escape responsibility, what would you do?

Okay, so, irrelevant but necessary: I cannot recommend Lush's Coco Lotion enough. My skin is so soft, I can not even comprehend right now. During the writing of this blog entry, I have stopped at least ten times just to feel my hands.




*Since I have too many friends with the first initial of K, this person will be renamed KK.