Incentive & Zeal

Today, I'm chiming in on two awesome long-running link-ups:

(just click the image to check out the link-up)

The letter of the week over at ABC Wednesday is 'I', and the first word that came to mind was

Incentive

Jenny is at the end of an alphabet cycle. Alphabe-Thursday letter this week is 'Z'. Actually, I gather that this is the very last Alphabe-Thursday, which is sad. But it seems she has new challenges in store for us. I am excited to see what they may be. Thanks, Jenny, for inspiring us and bringing us together! For the letter 'Z', I choose the word 

Zeal

So here's what these two words make me think: I need a good incentive to infuse me with zeal.

See, I've just completed an Associate of Applied Science in Accounting. With this new degree on top of my old Bachelor of Arts in English Language/Literature, I really feel like I should be holding down a more professional job than I currently have. Problem is, I really like my little job. It's simple and satisfying, and although the hours are wacky (a swingshift), there is lots of downtime during which to goof around on my laptop. In fact, I'm on the clock right now. My employer is fully aware that I spend up to six hours per shift just tapping away at my laptop keys. It's... a perk. I consider it to be some measure of compensation for how little the job pays, the absence of benefits, and the hours.

Money. You might think that money alone would be sufficient incentive for me to try hard to improve upon my current lot in life, work-wise. Thing is, I don't really need more money. I'm a bachelor... no kids... so my meager earnings pretty much cover my humble needs,

What else is there besides money to motivate me to undertake a more professional position, in which I will doubtless work harder under more stress and most likely without the perk of fun downtime?

Aha. Now that I think about it, I know. The greatest motivator of all: fear. I'll just tap into my fear of what will happen to me when retirement age comes and I haven't stashed away any funds to speak of.

Yessir - good old fear. But fear is kind of the 'dark side' isn't it? Gotta stay positive. That's where 'incentive' comes in. Much more positive word. So the incentives here would be safety, security, comfort... yeah, now I'm getting it. I feel more zealous already. I've been job-hunting all along, but now I will do so with more vim, vigor, verve! Wait, this isn't 'V' day. More zest and zing!

There is a possibility that I should have thought of this already. Like a long time ago. Probably most people start planning for retirement before they ever even go to college. What can I say? I'm not the most practical of people. When I went to university for the first time, I pursued my passion. Only decades later, the second time around, did I make more down-to-earth choices and decisions.

Well, I'm off to Monster.com to send my resume to another fifty employers in hopes of landing at least one interview. Wish me luck?



postscript:

ooooops... i had not noticed that jenny's last link-up was over and done with. oh well, silly me... well, it looks like her new project is

It warms my heart that Jenny is still bringing bloggers together and inspiring them to write!

If you care to check out some other heartwarmed posts and maybe join in with one of your own,

click here