"We aren't really in the attraction business, the hotel business, or the cruise ship business; we are in the guest experience business. The heart of everything we do is creating amazing, memorable experiences for Guests to share with their family and friends."
Tonight I was going to write about how utterly empty Magic Kingdom was today. I was going to write about realizing that the lap bars on Space Mountain are in a really awkward spot and that the way we check them is kinda awkward. I was going to talk about different puzzle pieces to the intricacies that are Space Mountain.
But then as I was leaving tonight I read this on the fridge in our break room. I'm sure it seems like all my blog entries are exactly the same: "wow... I was reminded what work really is" kind of entries. Maybe it seems hard to imagine that in such a short period of time I can forget what it means to work for a company like Disney.
I know that there a lot of you reading this blog who love, or perhaps loved what you're doing. Why do you love it? Why are you doing? Why did you start doing it? No matter how much you love it at first it ends up becoming a job after a bit, doesn't it? The newness, the magic, of it all fades into something normal for you and you start to forget why you started doing it at all.
This is a slight tangent but it connects... or at least... I'm going to connect my two thoughts.
A few years ago when I started dating and then started breaking off those relationships I realized that a lot of times my moods would fluctuate according to that of whatever boy I happened to be attached to at the time. I hated that. How could life ever work that way? Why was I giving anyone else permission to be in complete control of my happiness? That seemed dumb. I thought about that every time I went into a relationship. As time went by I made a lot of little realizations. My final decision on the matter (and it's held true while being engaged and in my relationship with Chris) was that before you ever get close to getting married you should be completely satisfied with who you are and then the person you marry doesn't necessarily control your moods; you do. You always do.
Now... the connection. I had this same disturbing kind of realization a few years ago about work. Why would anyone go to work by choice if the only rewards were monetary? How much do you have to love what you do to want to keep going no matter how many bad days you have? And then, like in a relationship, how do you stay in love with what you do? I've thought and thought and thought about those questions. I've changed my major in hopes of finding something I could love for years and years without giving up. Since I've been out here, though, I've learned something that seems like as big a realization as who controls whose happiness in relationships. Loving your job isn't about how much you love what you do. It's about how much you believe in why you're doing it and being so committed to that even if it's just an idea to keep pursuing. Loving your same ol' same ol' job is completely possible if every once in awhile you go back and refresh the dream.
So this is what I realized today. Have a good night everyone!
Wow! Smart girl!
ReplyDeleteI've been at my job for 9 years coming up on March 26th. I've had a total of 3 job titles in my company and I've done many things. After the first 2 or 3 years though, it settled into what I'm doing now. I've been writing denial letters and helping people with appeals for at least 7 years. Part of what keeps me doing my job is knowing I got through the times I DIDN'T want to do my job. I muscled through it and kept my job. And there's satisfaction in just being there for so long. There are other satisfactions too that you really need to look for yourself. No one else may think it's very satisfying but for me, getting 25 letters out or finishing up every appeal on my desk or whatever, gives me some satisfaction. It keeps me going. The BEST part though has always been when I can help someone on the phone. When you can help someone with something that they are so lost on but it seems so easy to you, THAT really does it! You get to do that everyday! There's just nothing better than helping someone solve a problem or have a good day!
Love you honey!