The other day I was at a gathering with a handful of people I’ve never met. It was a nice event and I was honored to be there.

The gathering started with introductions and handshakes, and within seconds the first “and what do you do for a living?” was asked by one of the guests to another. I thought that maybe driving to another city four hours away would get me away from this question. I was wrong.

And so the conversation went, swirling around the ins and outs of everyone’s daily hustle and bustle to make a buck.

It only took a few moments for the berating of each person’s workplace  and personal situation to begin.

I heard about employers who didn’t give a damn.
I heard about terrible co-workers.
I heard about clueless bosses.
I heard about having to work three jobs just to make ends meet.

To be fair, not everyone was complaining.

I give my wife a lot of credit. She’s found her passion in life. She’s a special education teacher and in itself, that’s a career choice that requires a special type of person.

She loves the day-to-day challenges that come her way. What I love about her is that you’ll never hear her complain about work, or what she does for a living. Ever.

I often look at her and say, “You’re so lucky to love what you do so much!” She always gives me a strange look when I say stuff like that. How could she not love it?

It’s a lot of work and at the end of each day, after hours of homework, and extracurricular activities like baseball coaching, (which does include Saturday’s by the way, – and Mr. Fleming get’s “hired” as a coach too!!), she’s tired, but there are no complaints.

She’s found her calling and it’s marvellous. But more importantly, she’s making a dent. She’s putting a stamp on work that will make a difference. It’s work that matters.

As the conversation continued through everyone’s trials and tribulations in the working world, I kept my head down and sat uncomfortably in the situation I was in. But it going me thinking…

Are we really just dealt a hand and that’s the way the cookie crumbles?

Don’t we have a choice about the employers we choose to work for?

Are you in a situation where you’re required to work three jobs just to make ends meet, or are you working to try to make a tight situation work because of choices you’ve made?

We can direct and control a good chunk of our lives and destiny through choices.

The thing about choices is you can make good ones, and unfortunately you can make bad ones.

The GREAT thing about choices is you can usually make new ones.