Dear Readers,
Today I had a friend who expressed some dissatisfaction in her life. She wasn't sure why.
She explained that she had it all, a good paying job, good friends, she was dating a good guy, and that she has a good time in life in general. Everything for her was good.
But now that I think about it, I think that is exactly where she falls short: good. When I use the word 'good' to describe something it means it's a lot better than bad, but still not the best. Good, for some people, can be a damning place to be.
Pardon me for dreaming, but I want the best.
Good, when continually repeated, can become mediocre. But going from good to great is a large step. You are therefore required to have the passion and the desire to find The Great. It isn't easy one bit, and I suppose some of us will never try hard enough to find it. But, believe me, it's absolutely worth it.
It took me a while to figure out how to do that. It takes every bit of your soul. It takes all your passion and will take you to exhausting heights every day. But when you go home and sleep like the dead because you've tried that hard, then you're doing something right. It means you've given every last little bit. So there, that's one way to measure it.
For me, it took years of doing the wrong thing. I followed money and money got me nowhere but unhappiness. I'll be honest, I was lazy. I did not strive to have anything more than simple existence. For some people, that's enough, but after a while, I realized, I was killing myself and my soul. I had to do something. My mother one day pointed out that our local college was doing their first EMT(emergency medical technician, basically, paramedic's assistants) class. It sounded exciting, so I took it. It wasn't easy, and honestly, most of the classroom stuff was fairly boring, but when it came to the hands-on stuff, I was all over it. I ate it up.
Toward the end of the class, "clinicals" forced us to taste a bit of the real world. Required time: 48 hours in an ER, 48 hours on an ambulance. Once again, I loved it. While in my EMT class, my cousin, who was a firefighter at the time, inspired me to go to fire academy. I did. I made good friends in fire academy, some that to this day I still talk to. Fire academy was a wonderful experience that helped me forge even more of who I am today.
Oddly enough, while looking for jobs, I found one as an EMT for an EMS ambulance. I went to work right out of academy. I began EMS work in a very small town of 1,000 or so people. It was a very monotonous beginning. Day in and day out I'd sit in a Lazyboy recliner and watch TV, sometimes all day long. The house was an old residential house that was given some medical supplies in a closet that was our 'stockroom.' Every night and every day, a train blew by, sounding its' horn all the way through. The tracks were less than twenty yards away. It was very disheartening to someone who was green and I was very green. This was a retirement station, not a gauntlet run. Eventually, I started talking to people and I demanded to know what the busiest station was. I wanted a trial by fire. When I found out, I requested a transfer to it.
I got it.
I was incredibly excited and seriously nervous.
Our ambulances were stationed in a Fire Department where I became good friends with many of the firefighters there. Our shifts, which worked 24 hours on and 48 off, could sometimes be very lazy days, or incredibly busy. That's what I liked about it. There was always an adventure every day. It was glorious. Eventually, though, it came to an end. One day they said I couldn’t drive anymore because of a ticket on my driving record that I had gotten in my off duty time. I felt like a fool. I was broken-hearted.
I left.
With my hat in my hands, I went back to construction work and worked like a reckless idiot. I was an asshole. I was resentful of what life had dealt me and I couldn’t move past it. It took me another year of that before I finally moved on. I got my life back together, and met some very important people who helped me do it. I met a lot of wonderful people. It took me making some guiding friends, a great girlfriend who inspired me to aspire to better things, and getting tired again of the mundane and finding it in myself to achieve. So now I am here; I have two jobs that I absolutely love. One is my day job, where I work as a mobile team phlebotomist, basically, the people who collect blood on blood drives. It’s a lot more fun than it sounds. I work with some absolutely spectacular people. My other job; I’m a writer. It doesn’t pay well, but it's my other passion. Someday it will. Just like everything else, it will take time. I continue day in and day out to strive, to learn, to achieve, and to better myself. I suggest you do the same.
Passion+Commitment+Aspiration=Happiness
Happiness=Success
GOOD LUCK!
W. Justin Hook
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