Sunday Scribblings-Puzzles

My work life has been a bit of a merry-go-round lately and I'm rather puzzled about it. I've been juggling two part-time jobs for three years now, and it's getting more and more difficult to keep the balls in the air. My first conundrum involves whether to give up the part time position as choral accompanist at the high school in favor of working more hours at my office job, where there is an opportunity to take on more reponsbility. However, this in itself brings up another quandry ~ because these new responsibilities would require more time working in the office, while a lot of my current job can be completed from home, giving me the flexibility to travel to Florida on a semi-regular basis.

As I ponder this current life puzzle, I realize that weighing the pro's and con's of one situation or another is a bit like looking at a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle scattered on a table. Each aspect of a situation is like a diffently shaped piece, each potential choice we make an opportunity to put the puzzle together correctly~or not.

I love working with the high school students, but the pay is abysmal. Unfortunately, this job totally disproves the theory that "if you do what you love, the money will follow." Nope. Not this time. Of course there have been plenty of other rewards ~but, let's face it, personal and creative satisfaction don't pay the property tax on three houses. My office job is not terribly challenging, and it certainly doesn't get the creative juices flowing. I enjoy the people I work with, and it's a pleasant working environment most of the time. But the salary, while certainly not a fortune, is worlds better than my school job.

So, here I am, trying to fit these pieces into the puzzle that's my life right now, feeling a bit as if I'm forcing a piece with a round edge into a square opening. I'm really wishing that someone will come by and discover that a perfectly fitting piece has actually been hiding in the corner all along!