Another year gone by

Well, a few days ago, I celebrated making it another year without dying (Seinfeld terminology for a birthday). It seems like this year was a lot more eventful than most, with getting married, buying a house, selling a house and all that fun stuff. It certainly does make me thankful that I did make it another year because we certainly aren't guaranteed another day.

It's been kind of cool this year to move along to a different stage in life. Being single was a lot of fun and certainly had its benefits, but I am really enjoying this new stage in life. Last weekend, we got together with some other friends (all of whom have young kids) and tonight were talking to a couple with college-aged kids. For some reason, it seems cool to me to be able to spend time with people in all different life situations and get some insight into their world. I really think this is how we're supposed to work- being in relationships with people both similar to us and different than us.

Just think if we all did have friends at different stages in their life journeys. There would be so much potential there for us helping each other by sharing experiences and wisdom. Yet, I see in my own life the tendency to spend time with others during my "leftover" time- that is, when I am not working and feel like I can afford to take that time. It's been a long time since I've sought out someone younger than I am to try to help provide them some encouragement or words of wisdom. But, I can remember many people who have been that older, wiser voice to me both personally and professionally and know what a help that has been.

But, in this culture we live in, building friendships is unfortunately not something we do that great at. We are usually caught up in working, buying stuff and maintaining that stuff so we don't have that much time left for anything else. So I guess it just boils down to our priorities and living those out.

How about loyalty in business?

My last lecture of the semester always deals with careers in the IT industry and I always talk more generally about what careers in the business world are like. It seems as if one thing that's been happening lately is a decline in loyalty from both employers and employees. The extreme example seems to be the world of college coaching- a coach who hasn't had a losing record in over 10 years gets fired and a coach who has been at a school for one year is upset that they don't give him a new deal (both actually happened this season).

While those examples might be a bit extreme, that seems to reflect the overall trend in business. People used to remember past loyalty and service, but nowadays it seems the main question is, "What can you do for me now?" It seems as if a lot of companies are concerned with the bottom line and not a whole lot else. The days of staying with one company for your career appears to be an old notion.

I have run into this myself in some of my work- companies that I have been loyal to and provided excellent service to going elsewhere for no apparent reason. I certainly hope that in my dealings, I am demonstrating loyalty and showing appreciation to those who have gone out of their way for me in the past.

I think we're working too hard

Ask anyone today (especially those in the business world) how they're doing and chances are you'll hear something like "good... I've been really busy lately." It seems as if we are working harder than ever. Being in the IT field, I am a fan of technology and think it has done a lot to improve our lives and the way we work. But, I think the side effect of Blackberries, cell phones, email, etc. is that we really aren't "off" anymore.

Case in point- last weekend, I had a client who lost e-mail functionality for a few hours on a Saturday evening. What does it say about today's business world when we recognize and freak out over losing e-mail connectivity on a Saturday night? I know I am guilty too, as I can't remember the last day that I didn't check e-mail several times. But, it makes me wonder what else we could be doing on our off times if we didn't feel so tied down to our work and that we had to always stay in touch with that part of our lives.

It is difficult for me to really put work down at the end of the day and not want to work in the evenings and weekends- part because I am busy, but part because I really do enjoy what I do. But I know that God has blessed me with a lot more than my work and has given me much more to life. So, I'm working at taking a break. After all, I really think the world will be OK if I quit at the end of the day. I'm not really that important, am I?

New title & everything

Well, since it's been so long since I've been doing this blogging thing, I thought the most appropriate thing would be to start all over. So, I've redone the name & layout of my blog as a kind of fresh start.

I hope you like the look and I look forward to getting back into this- it was a great way to express thoughts, feelings, etc. but got lost somewhere in the busyness of life.

-JRO