A Musician Working the Dreaded Day Job

I have endured so many different undesirable day jobs it's ridiculous. As a person who considers himself a good musician, I know how difficult it is to have to work those kinds of jobs while knowing I had other talents that were not being used. Talents that I felt had exceeded the requirements of the jobs I had been working.

Although I believe that a truly wise man as well as a good manager or supervisor sees the potential of an individual, In our society, people often base their opinions of someone else upon what they are currently doing for a living. Not what their potential is. I don't think people realize how common it is that people with exceptional abilities are often forced to work a job that is, quite frankly, beneath their talents, experience and abilities.

I will give you some examples of the types of jobs I have had to work to pay my bills. So without any further stalling, let's get to it:

I have worked at a slaughterhouse that cut up dead cows and horses that were dragged off of fields and the meat was used for dog food. Sometimes a cow might be lying in a field for a day or two before they called our company to have it removed. So they would sometimes be bloated and would make a hissing sound when you would go to skin it. I'll spare you the more grisly details.

I worked for a disaster restoration company that would deal with water, mold, fire and smoke damage. The worst would be sewer or septic backups. Sometimes an entire basement would be filled with sewage that had backed up through a toilet in the basement. We would have to drain out the septic sludge and cut out the sludge drenched carpeting and bag it up to haul outside and load into the truck. I'll spare you the more disgusting details.

I worked at a powder coatings factory. They made the powder coatings that is sprayed on metal and baked on. It is much more durable than paint, by the way. The factory workers would usually take on the color of the powder coatings that were being made each day. If we were making blue, we'd all be blue and smurf-like in appearance. If it was yellow, then we would all look jaundiced.

I worked at a factory that manufactured vinyl wall covering. There was always the strong overpowering stench of the inks and various solvents that permeated the place. God only knows how many years that cut off my life. But don't worry; it just cuts the years off of the end of your life. Those are usually the worst years anyway.

I have worked a number of other rotten jobs but I won't bother to list them due to the fact that this article might go on for ever. I just wanted to present the case that I understand what it is like to work a lousy job while you aspire to do something better with your life.

It can be difficult sometimes when you know for sure that you are capable of doing more. Yet the real opportunities for you to show what you are capable of seem to never arise. Quite often, for most people, they don't. You see, the real opportunities don't come to you. The real opportunities are the ones that you pursue.

So maybe you've also had to work that horrible day job to pay the bills while waiting for opportunity to come knocking on your door. Let's face it though; opportunity doesn't even know where you live. You have to find his address and knock on his door.

The year I released my first music CD was a busy one. I worked a full time job that often consisted of 60 or more hours a week, every week. While working that job, I was also working on my many websites. I currently have over 3,000 pages on the Net. While doing those things, I was also working on my CD.

For years I had made the mistake of thinking that I'll get around to this or that when "I have the time." The sad unfortunate fact was that I never seemed to have the time. Not until I made the time. Let's face it; I had no personal life that year, really, to speak of. I finished the CD though. I also did a lot of updates to my websites and, oh, I paid my bills with my meager day job salary

.

I knew I was capable of doing more than what I was doing for a living. You know that you are capable of doing more. So go out and do it! Find the time. Make the time. Just go out and do it! Show the world what you're made of. Show them all how wrong they are about you. You might even surprise yourself.

Photo Credit: Image created by Bob Craypoe, also known as R. L. Crepeau. Promo image for MtJobStinks.org