I Work. So There.

I’m going to take a quick detour from my typically happy posts and take a few minutes to go on a much needed little rant I just have to get out of my system. My feelings won’t be hurt if you close this; I just need to do it.

I work. I work as the Director of Marketing for a company that produces impressive revenue with a staff of only 26 people. I work a lot, and even when I don’t work my mind is usually somewhat circling a work-related topic.

I don’t complain about my job. I don’t complain about the headaches I’m faced with or the fifteen time-sensitive projects I’m working on in any given week (or day some days). I don’t complain about my coworkers and I don’t brag to them—or anyone really—about reaching the unattainable deadlines I’m faced with regularly.

I love my job and the company I work for. I truly stand 100%, with everything in me, behind the mission of the company. It’s a complicated business model, and everyone who works for this company is stretched incredibly thin on a regular basis. But we’re all working for something. We’re all working for a good reason. What we do every day—in every department—means something. I count myself extremely lucky to work for a company that I believe in. To focus my hard efforts on something that makes a difference.

I get stressed out. There are days I want to scream. There are days I want to pick up the beautiful 27-inch iMac with the additional 19-inch Apple screen connected to it and throw them across the room. There are days I want to ignore every phone call that comes in and delete every email that pops up on my screen. There are days that I just want to bang my head repeatedly on my desk because my brain has reached its mental capacity for crap I’ve dealt with that day.

I’M.SO.TIRED.

I’M.SO.TIRED of people thinking that just because I don’t complain about my job either on social media or verbally to them that I must not have a very demanding workload. I’M.SO.TIRED of people treating me like I haven't accomplished anything just because I don't feel the need to rub it in anyone's face. I’M.SO.TIRED of people assuming that because I go about almost everything with a smile and can-do attitude that it must mean my job isn’t as challenging as theirs. I’M.SO.TIRED of people thinking they have the right to make any of these analyses.

Why do I work? Because I love it. I miss my daughter like crazy when I’m not with her, but I love the feeling I get when I accomplish something business-related. I love the interaction as much as I sometimes hate it, and I know, every day, that I’m at work because I choose to be. I’ve worked hard to get where I am, and I’m too proud of that to walk away.

Why don’t I complain about my job? Because I’m a firm believer that the simple act of complaining about something that can’t be changed is destructive, both mentally and emotionally. When something happens at work, how do I benefit by replaying it over and over and over to anyone who will listen? Every time I complain about it I’m reminded about it, and every time I explain the situation I get worked up all over again. Complaining forces me to relive it, and in turn I don’t move on from it. I’ve learned through a number of instances that holding a grudge doesn’t get me anywhere. At least it doesn’t get me anywhere good.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a demanding job or workload. Five multibillion-dollar companies throughout the United States make up the owners of the company I work for. As the Director of Marketing, every.single.thing I do can get (and usually is) criticized by five different executive teams. Most marketers have one primary audience, and a pretty clear market they’re trying to reach. Because of our business model, I have three very different audiences to tend to all at once in every task I'm assigned. All three audiences are our customers. Most marketers negotiate marketing programs built into or around the company’s pricing structure. Because of our business model, our pricing structure has to be net-net with all suppliers, which our procurement team negotiates. I then go in and negotiate a marketing program apart from all of that. Ask around and you’ll find that’s a feat that is next to impossible to accomplish. But I’ve somehow done it and continue to do it.

I work, and I work hard. I don’t complain about my job and I don’t intend to start. Not because my job is all flowers and butterflies, but because I believe work is called WORK for a reason. It’s hard, for everyone. Each of us has the choice to make the best out of it or complain about it because that’s what the majority of society does.

If you made it this far into my post I beg you to keep one thing in mind, for people like me: just because someone doesn’t spend all of his or her time complaining about how much work they have to do, think twice before making the assumption that said person doesn’t have a demanding job. Some of us just do everything we can to find positives among a world filled with negatives. I’m just so tired of people assuming that because I adapt and because I don’t complain that I don’t have a very challenging workload.

I dare most people to survive a week in my multitasking, deadline-driven, making the impossible possible position. But lucky for me, I love it. And I know there are a lot of other people out there just like me…

Thanks for reading my rant!