The Best Job You'll Ever Have

Remember those jobs as a youngster when you first started to make some real money, earning a bona fide paycheck? For some of us, it was cleaning out the grease pit at a convenience store "kitchen," specializing in chicken wings, low-grade burgers, and French fries. For others, it might have been washing dishes at some local dive. For those of you loving the great outdoors, there was carrying stacks of roofing shingles up a ladder or hauling hay for some area farmer, who just might have been your dad or grandpa.

For me one of the hardest jobs I ever had was performing the exhausting repetitiveness of assembly line work, trying to keep up with the flow of experienced workers while staying focused on the task at hand.

Each of us keeps a memory tucked into the corner of our mind of the hardest jobs we ever had to do. It's good to pull that memory out once in awhile, so we can put our current job in perspective.

For example, a veteran sitting all day long in an air-conditioned office, attending boring meetings can seem like an endless grind, but it's absolutely delightful next to being yelled at by drill sergeants and endless hours of physical training.

When it comes down to it, hard jobs aren't always defined by soaring temperatures, blitzed muscles, or intolerable bosses; they can also be measured by the amount of stress produced, anxiety raised, or nightmares unleashed.

I'm good with doing most anything physical or mental; the hardest job for me involves relationships. For instance, being a husband is a daily challenge, as my role and responsibilities often change with each sunrise. And the transition from husband to father creates numerous opportunities for other hard jobs as well: changing diapers, giving baths, helping with homework, encouraging broken hearts, teaching teens to drive, and being a worthwhile role model.

In truth, my job as husband and dad rival any of the stresses I might experience in the workplace, but the payoff is by far better, and it's a role I wouldn't trade for all the air-conditioned corner offices and six-figure salaries in the world.

One reason for this are the fantastic fringe benefits that come with this "job" -- like watching my son pitch his first game, seeing my daughter nail a half gainer off the high dive, or sitting around a campfire with both of them and my wife, savoring the last few days of summer vacation before the kids head back to school in a couple of weeks.

You had hard jobs, and you've had satisfying ones as well. Drop us a line and tell us what worked for you and what didn't when it came to those early jobs. Let us know, too, how things are today.

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