Tag: Grandpa’s Way

The job you want

If the salary was the same, what job would you be doing right now and why?

I’ve always said that I’d rather have a lower paying job that I enjoy than a higher paying job for which I struggle to get out of bed.

The salary isn’t important. If you don’t like the job, or the people you’re working with, you’ll struggle to get up every morning and eventually the salary will not seem as important and you’ll lose it, anyway.

The reality is that most jobs pay a living wage by law. The real problem isn’t the salary; it’s what we do with the salary. When we overspend, we go looking for a high paying job that we don’t like. Far better to live within the means provided by a lower paying job that we enjoy.

One of the things I’ve learned since I’ve retired is that we waste stress on work. Once we leave, someone else takes over. And they could have taken over long ago if we had left sooner. We are not as irreplaceable as we’d like to think.

So, the salary isn’t the important thing. It’s more about enjoying the life you can afford than striving for the one you can’t.

It wasn’t a hobby to begin with

Share a hobby you’ve picked up recently — what got you into it?

I’ve written about this in another post but here’s an update.

Almost three years ago my children were using a language learning app, but the free version of the app only allowed so many mistakes in a day, which meant they were running out of ‘lives’ regularly. So, I bought the family version for the year.

Knowing how kids are with such things, I decided that, rather than waste the money, I would do something that I’d always wanted, and it would be just for me, to treat myself. I would learn Italian.

Early on in my journey a friend suggested that since I already spoke English and Welsh, maybe I have a flair for languages, which intrigued me.

I finished the Italian course and moved on to Spanish, then French. And now, almost three years later, I’m on Brazilian Portuguese. And it’s become a hobby.

Whether I’ll ever use these languages remains to be seen. I’m keeping them fresh by reading and watching videos in those languages. But for me, it’s a hobby, and it’s just for me.

Suits you, sir

What’s the weirdest coincidence you’ve ever experienced?

Rushing, up against time, I left my suit jacket at home, 25 miles away with 15 minutes before giving a presentation.

I walked into a charity shop 100 yards away from the venue. The first jacket on the first rack not only fitted perfectly, but it was also a perfect match for the suit, right down to the material and colour.

Someone must have been looking after me that day.