By complete accident, yet a pleasant surprise, I was recently able to spend a few minutes catching up with an old friend who I hadn’t seen in at least a decade but more than likely even longer.

We exchanged the typical niceties and asked the usual catching up questions that one would in that situation. “How have you been?”, “How’s everything going?”, “What have you been up to lately?”

You could argue that those three are different forms of the same question, but somehow in that situation they yield three distinct answers.

The conversations then turned to work.

For the longest time, it was never my favorite subject to discuss with people. I was always in the position of yearning for something different but not immediately able to achieve that goal. I’d always answer the question and quickly follow it with “Eh, but we don’t have to talk about that.”

But now, I find myself in what seems to be a unique position these days where I find myself not only in a job that I enjoy immensely but also one that’s exactly what I always hoped to do.

So, when my old acquaintance asked where I was working, I happily shared that information. He was immediately ecstatic and emoted a “That’s awesome” before hurling a couple of compliments my way that I appreciated even if I didn’t fully buy into them. Not because they came from him but because they were compliments.

I then reciprocated the inquiry and asked him what he was doing these days for work, and he answered “Ah, just working at a factory. Nothing too exciting.”

While I first questioned his assessment of factory work, an occupation that I can only imagine is full of excitement on a daily basis, it then occurred to me that he was inadvertently reflecting back to me the same attitude that I often expressed up until about a year and a half ago.

I spent about eight years in the often grueling and soul crushing world of corporate retail. I started my tenure as a deli service clerk at a chain grocery store slicing meats and cheeses and more often than not working in the kitchen making various forms of chicken and other delicacies that one might find there. Running the counter was my favorite task there. Though chronically an introverted and shy person for most of my life, something about the motivation of receiving a paycheck made me a really outgoing person from the beginning of my shift until the end. The counter was the less greasy and grimy option in the deli department and gave the best view for one of my favorite tasks: people watching. There were some bright spots mostly in the people that I met there, one of which just happens to be one of my very best friends to this day, but it was also incredibly stressful, and I often found myself in unfavorable situations due to the ineptitude of others. I witnessed a busy Sunday afternoon at the grocery store break a number of new employees. The deli was notorious for its revolving door with some people not making it back after their first lunch break.

From the deli department, I then moved to a new company, one of the largest paint retailers in the world. Along with that change came a whole slew of new challenges and lessons. Again, my time there was positively marked by a number of cool folks who I enjoyed getting to know.

But much like my time slinging chicken and cold cuts, there were some not so great days and moments, especially when I moved into management.

I’m mostly a calm and easy-going person, but there were a few occasions when I got heated with people. One particularly memorable instance was getting into a near shouting match with a lady about wallpaper, a situation that I neither pictured myself nor desired to be in.

You know the old adage “It’s like watching paint dry?” I’ve actually had to do that.

Especially towards the end of my tenure as a paint store assistant manager, there were several nights where I would come home, eat dinner and then promptly fall asleep sitting up on the couch still in uniform.

Through all those trials and tribulations, the long stressful days and the endless lists of grievances both from me and others, there was one thought that I never let enter mind. I never let myself get to the point where I felt like I was too good for the work.

Were there days where I wished for different? Absolutely, but the work was never beneath me. Despite the gray hairs that formed and the residual twitch in the corner of my mouth that I occasionally still have, it was honest work.

I’m incredibly fortunate to work at a job that I enjoy, one that I dreamed of when I was elbow deep in a deli cooler trying to fish out that last sliver of pastrami to slice for the customer that wants it so thin she can read the newspaper through it.

But it took some doing and a whole lot of patience for the right opportunity to come along. A lot of waiting and wondering and a good portion of hearty screams in the deep freezer/back of the paint store.

Life’s about finding those joys where you’re at while picturing where you could go. May we all find ourselves where we hope to be and appreciate those times that got us here.