Frequently I’m frustrated with my job.  After being at the same company for almost eleven years (which is a long time in the technology industry), I find it challenging to put up with the constantly revolving door of new employees.  Everyone is so excited to make their mark when they start.  They think every thought they have is something inventive.  Secretly I sometimes take joy in letting them know “yep…we’ve tried that before and here is why it’s a bad idea or won’t work”.  I know…cruel, right?

At this point you are probably thinking “what the heck does this have to do with time off” or “fun”.  It does I promise.

My company’s policy is that at the 10-year mark, employees get five weeks off.  That doesn’t include the nine set holidays and three floating holidays.  The five weeks does include sick leave, but I don’t get sick often…thank goodness.

All of this to say, when I get frustrated with my job or people I work with all I have to do is remember how much paid time off I get each year.  That’s what I’m thankful for today.  It helps to remember that I won’t get that much freedom if I pull up roots and move on to another company.

There are of course other benefits, like pay and stock, which help too.  But I’m a travel junkie…I love to travel…anywhere.

This year I have an amazing opportunity to take nine weeks off.  In addition to five weeks off each year we can carry over time off up to 300 hours (if you’ve been there 10 years or more).  So, I did and now I get to reap the rewards.

I guess the moral of this post is that when things are frustrating it really isn’t that much effort to find something to be thankful for…for me it’s my time off.