There Must Be More To Life Than A Mundane and Monotonous Daily Routine

I’m sitting at my desk, trapped within the confines of the four walls of my small, over occupied workplace and working through my case load, making small talk with my forty to sixty-something colleagues and throwing in the occasional fake laugh. I take a glance through the window and look out to the dark, blustery world outside with the intense longing to be able to just run freely along with the wind. A standard day in the office.

I didn’t go to university. Instead, I opted to commence full-time work on an Apprenticeship/Trainee-type scheme immediately after graduating from college. It was an unusual and very difficult choice to make. I always had good grades. My A Level results secured me a place at Manchester University’s Law School. What an opportunity. But, everybody goes to university these days. It’s no longer for the “elite” as I believe it once was. ‘Do something different’, I remember telling myself. 'Stand out from the crowd'. My decision was also influenced largely by the fact that my law qualification would be paid for wholly by my employer if I opted to take the job instead of university.

Four years on, here I am. I successfully sailed through my legal studies and gained quick promotion from Trainee to Legal Officer with an attractive salary to match and some designated letters for use after my name that I occasionally like to whip out. I have little regret over the choice I made between university and full time employment. Had I gone to university, I may well be stuck fighting amongst the hundreds of other law graduates struggling to find a job.

However, I do feel a little regret. Is law the right choice for me as a person? It’s certainly what I wanted to do for a long time. It still interests me a lot. I think I have a good understanding of the law and am suited to the profession. But, you grow up a lot between 18 and 22. Nobody had warned me of this. My interests, views and goals for life have changed.

I’m now at a stage in life where I am most comfortable with myself as a person. I dealt with insecurities throughout my teenage years and there is a hidden residue that bubbles to the surface now and again. But, I’m the happiest with myself than I’ve ever been and for this, I have matured and learnt a lot about myself.

Along the process of naturally maturing into adulthood, I embarked on a process of self-discovery (which is by no means finished!). My keen interests became more apparent than ever and have shaped me and my lifestyle. Travel, photography, writing, theatre, socialising and languages – they’re all things I liked and enjoyed before, but now I really love them.

Throughout my four years experience of working in a full time, 9-5 job, I discovered how shit working actually is. I have become completely disheartened. Everything in society (including parents, teachers, the government and the media) leads us all to believe that we must get a good secondary education, go to college, go to university, and get a good degree and then work around 40 years until retirement. Forty years of our life spent working. Forty years of our ONE, sole, precious chance at life. People save for a rainy day. People pay into pension contributions. People put off dream plans (i.e travelling) until they’ve retired. But, as depressing as it may sound, nobody really knows if they will be lucky enough to be healthy enough, or even live long enough, to fully enjoy the free time that retirement gives them.

I refuse to put my life on hold in order to work for a living.

It is for this reason that I am becoming increasingly incensed and exhausted with working in an office for 37 hours per week. 37 hours of a week spent stuck in an office working for somebody else. I will never get that time back to use properly ever again. Living for pay day. Living for the weekend. Surely, there’s more to life than this mundane and monotonous daily routine.

Unfortunately, we need money to live the lifestyle we want. I couldn’t live my lifestyle with little or no money. Therefore, it’s my belief that job satisfaction is one of the most fundamental aspects to ones career. If you are lucky enough to land yourself in a job that you genuinely love and work with people that you genuinely enjoy working with, you have something rare and amazing (and I'm incredibly jealous of you!!).

I am searching for the career (whether it be in law or otherwise) that will give me job satisfaction. I want a job that I want to wake up for in the morning, a job where each day is different and exciting and thrilling and a job that involves world travel.

I know my dream job would be to model or to act or be a travel writer or a photographer, but how realistic a prospect is that? Many will say...you'll never know unless you try. They are right and I hope that I will try. But, I need a realistic alternative if my attempt to break into them fails.

To date, I have no alternative. Suggestions welcome.

RB