Seasonal Work

I should warn you that this isn’t a funny post. Nope, just random ramblings that have been jumping through my mind’s eye for the last few weeks that I decided to type out. If you are looking for my usual sarcasm, come back next time…

 

I love Fall and the crisp cool that you start to feel in the mornings. The smells, the colors, the football, and the pumpkin everything that comes into my life. After fall comes winter, of course, which in Utah means tons of snow and skiing. For as long as I can remember I have loved waking up the morning of a first snow and peeking out the window to see how much fell. There aren’t a lot of feelings like that first snowy morning…

But over the past few years I grew to despise them.  I worked in the ski industry doing recruiting/HR, so my falls and winters have been insanely busy. Fall involved traveling to job fairs all around the state hoping I could get enough staff for the winter. Then the first snow would hit and instead of feeling that excitement, I would start to panic over how busy my life was about to get. Winter meant training all of those new employees, dealing with the inevitable fallout that happens with seasonal staff, jumping in to help out in random roles around the company, 10 hour work days, often 6- 7 days a week, tons and tons of stress, and long, dangerous commutes home in the dark. I didn’t actually ski once in those two seasons because the thought of driving back up the canyon on my day off sounded excruciating. I haven’t gone to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square in two years or decorated, and my family received Christmas gifts that were purchased on Christmas eve when I was clearly scraping the bottom of the barrel at the outlets before I rushed down the canyon to eat cold leftovers at my Grandma’s. The day after Christmas was the busiest day of the year, so I didn’t really enjoy the day because I was worrying about what would inevitably turn into a 12 hour day of inspecting and cleaning houses.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved the company I worked for and the people I worked with. I could not have asked for a more fun group of coworkers and bosses, but the job made me absolutely hate the things I used to love. It took me one season to know without a doubt that I couldn’t do that for the rest of my life. I wasn’t happy, I missed out on so many fun things, I always looked like I had crawled out of bed and thrown my hair up and put on mascara(because that is exactly what happened), I was constantly tired and stressed, and I gained close to 40 pounds. To sum it all up: I was not cut out for that line of work. 

In case you didn’t know, I don’t work in the ski industry any more. Last spring I made a big career shift and I couldn’t be more pleased. I was incredibly sad to leave that company and I actually cried when I thought about not talking to the people who had become good friends over those two years, but I knew it was right. I think the magnitude of how right it was has started to sink in with the changing leaves these past few weeks. The first time I felt cold in the morning, I started to get this pit in my stomach that Summer was over... then it suddenly donned on me that Summer being over didn’t mean a thing to me anymore. I was free to love my fall things again without the anxiety. I don’t feel this looming cloud over my head telling me that my life is about to get real sucky. In fact, I find myself looking forward to the snow so I can go skiing and sledding. I am excited drive around and look at Christmas lights and to actually put up my Christmas decorations. On top of the seasonal stuff, I have had some time to reflect on how the lack of stress is physically effecting me as well—I don’t feel tired all the time, I work out almost daily, I eat much healthier because I have time to actually grocery shop and cook, I read the books I want to read, I put effort into my appearance, I go out with friends and laugh and don’t think twice about work,  I drink less caffeine, and I have lost about 30 of those 40 pounds. I just take better care of myself overall and I feel legitimately happy and at peace for the first time in a long, long time.