How do you keep your enthusiasms going?

I had a pretty good day at work today. I was productive, getting a lot of gages calibrated, solving problems, improving procedures.

Now, there’s a satisfaction in getting the job done and done right. It’s honest, honorable work. Nevertheless, this isn’t what I would choose to spend my time doing, given a completely free choice. Worse, my day job frequently drains me of energy to do the things I would rather do – things like writing, programming, and so forth.

It does seem like it wasn’t this way when I was younger. Back then, I thought nothing of skimming through a couple of hundred emails a day, knocking out an essay, poem or story every day or at least every other day, and a few other bits and pieces. More often than not all this took place after a workday two to four hours longer than I usually do now.

However, I’m not convinced I can put it down entirely to growing older. Other people, my contemporaries in age or even older, seem to keep their enthusiasm for their hobbies and avocations even if they find their work a drag.

I wonder how they do that. Anybody got any notions?

~ by B.T. Murtagh on July 14, 2009.