THE "LUCKY TO HAVE A JOB" MYTH

"You're lucky you *have* a job!"

How often have we heard that? How many times have we been told that we
should be thankful we're employed--as though our employers are handing us
gifts--and that we're not one of the lay off casualties we read about in the
newspaper every week?

Don't those words make you absolutely cringe?

After all, how lucky are we, really? We get to wake up every day at the
insistence of our alarm clocks, not our internal clocks. We drag our bodies
out of bed, sometimes carrying leftover luggage from yesterday's events at
work--the looming deadline, the clueless boss, the tedious tasks, the rumors
of an uncertain future.

Even if the sun greets us when we arise, we barely notice it. Besides, why
bother? From our cubicles and work stations, we won't get to see it much
anyway. Many of us will be lucky if we even get the witness the sun set each
day because, if we want to remain among the employed fortunates, we'd better
put in some extra hours to stay on top of our work.

Oh, and let's talk about how truly lucky we are to have our ideas ignored,
our skills under-utilized, our talents untapped. Or, when we do get a
suggestion implemented, how little we get compensated for it, while the
person we shared it with gets the big bucks and the praise. Yippee!

Beginning to feel not so lucky after all? Good. That knot of discontentment
inside you, that sense of disenchantment, are actually signs that you realize
the "lucky to have a job" line of thinking is a myth. In fact, the opposite
applies--*they're* lucky to have *you.* Moreover, if you're feeling
unvalued and ignored, they don't deserve you.

It's time to create your own luck.

How? By digging up that old dream that once set your heart thumping, and
dusting it off. By examining it, mulling over it, thinking about what it
would take to implement it. By realizing how truly happy you'd be if you
pursued that dream with your heart and soul--and how much happier those who
care for you would be in the wake of your happiness. By knowing how much
better off the world at large would be from your positive contribution to it.

Bill Gates did this. Not only has he become one the wealthiest people on
earth, but he has also become our greatest philanthropist. Ever. Millions
of people have benefited from his pursuit of his dream. Would this have
happened if he'd settled for the "lucky to have a job" myth? Of course not.

Just imagine. Creating a life where the sun wakes you up, not an alarm
clock. Jumping out of bed, rather than crawling out of it, in joyful
anticipation of each and every day. Seeing your ideas come to life, getting
full credit for them, and being directly compensated from those that
succeed. Watching the sun set each and every evening from the home of your
dreams, satisfied in knowing you have lived that day fully, and are excited
about the next.

Knowing that you aren't "lucky to have a job"--you are lucky to have a life.

Go for it. Here's to your success.