dead end jobs and drinking
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 44
dead end jobs and drinking
i work a dead end job i want to be a actor the stress i feel of being at this place has given me clarity.about my situation it also seems to be driving me to drink just to cope .anyone else feel this way ?
Member
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Boston, Mass
Posts: 1,004
I also work a dead end job. That is a huge part of how I came to the realization that it was time to quit drinking. I've been working the same dead end job for about ten years. No advancement, no raises. Being a boozehound really killed any ambitions.
Few responsibilities, flexible hours, drinking culture. My job is definitely conducive to being a drunk.
Few responsibilities, flexible hours, drinking culture. My job is definitely conducive to being a drunk.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,442
Here's the thing about dead end jobs and drinking tho.
if you resort to drinking, for whatever reason (I'm bored, I'm better than this, I really need to unwind, my boss is an ass...whatever) you're virtually ensuring you'll stay in that dead end job aries.
I did it for years.
D
if you resort to drinking, for whatever reason (I'm bored, I'm better than this, I really need to unwind, my boss is an ass...whatever) you're virtually ensuring you'll stay in that dead end job aries.
I did it for years.
D
Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: northern michigan. not the U.P.
Posts: 15,281
I used "to cope" with quite a bit of life as an excuse to drink.
Seemed i had quite a few excuses to drink. Changed jobs to removed my perceived problems with the job and I found another excuse to use to drink.
But then I crossed the line into full blown alcoholism and didn't need an excuse to drink.
Eventually I got sober.
The reason I did it was because I never learned how to handle life on life's terms- never learned how to get into action changing my life. Stayed on the same merry go round for a loooong time.
But then I got sober and learned how to change my sails.
Seemed i had quite a few excuses to drink. Changed jobs to removed my perceived problems with the job and I found another excuse to use to drink.
But then I crossed the line into full blown alcoholism and didn't need an excuse to drink.
Eventually I got sober.
The reason I did it was because I never learned how to handle life on life's terms- never learned how to get into action changing my life. Stayed on the same merry go round for a loooong time.
But then I got sober and learned how to change my sails.
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Dancing in the Light
Posts: 61,505
I agree with Dee. If you add drinking to a dead-end job, you will have little chance of moving on to something better. Get sober and get out there and do some serious job-hunting. You can improve your situation.
Trudgin
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 6,348
If only conditions were different I would not drink....... it never occurred to us to meet conditions whatever they were.
I had a niche industry job / career for many years and made good $$ - lots of it. I became bitter towards the fine people I worked for over the 20 years I was with them. I convinced myself I was worth far more and their business couldn't survive without me.
Fast forward several years - I became fed up, quit my job and went out on my own. I did this during a roaring drunk......It was soon evident I needed them a lot more than they needed me.
Ultimately their business failed - If I had stayed on I am sure it still would have failed. The market evolved and they did not.
Regardless, my point is I thought if my conditions changed I'd be happy. This was a lie. I had to look inward and change me not other places, things, people , jobs etc. Simply, I would have been miserable anywhere with any amount of $$.
Sobriety opens our minds and hearts to paths we never thought possible. To arenas we never explored. But, that cannot occur without removing the poison from our bodies and delve into why we drank.....I discovered that my job had very little to do with my serenity and happiness daily.
Glad we are all on this journey together!
Keep coming back
I had a niche industry job / career for many years and made good $$ - lots of it. I became bitter towards the fine people I worked for over the 20 years I was with them. I convinced myself I was worth far more and their business couldn't survive without me.
Fast forward several years - I became fed up, quit my job and went out on my own. I did this during a roaring drunk......It was soon evident I needed them a lot more than they needed me.
Ultimately their business failed - If I had stayed on I am sure it still would have failed. The market evolved and they did not.
Regardless, my point is I thought if my conditions changed I'd be happy. This was a lie. I had to look inward and change me not other places, things, people , jobs etc. Simply, I would have been miserable anywhere with any amount of $$.
Sobriety opens our minds and hearts to paths we never thought possible. To arenas we never explored. But, that cannot occur without removing the poison from our bodies and delve into why we drank.....I discovered that my job had very little to do with my serenity and happiness daily.
Glad we are all on this journey together!
Keep coming back
Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Los Angeles, California
Posts: 8,326
Headcase has it right. Attitude is everything. Attitude seeps over to all parts of your life. Look at Tom Hanks. I cannot imagine he was terribly thrilled about humping bags at Hilton. Or his first few roles....Bosom Buddies or Volunteers. But he stayed the course. He honed his skill and did the work.
Do your work with pride while you look around for something you might like better. Sometimes our jobs are just means to an end...paying rent and putting food on the table. If your job is sucking the soul out of you, don't stay, look around and move on.
maybe you can do acting classes or little theatre or teach acting/voice/scene work on the side to keep yourself in the game and make some extra cash.
I hope this is helpful.
Love from Lenina
Do your work with pride while you look around for something you might like better. Sometimes our jobs are just means to an end...paying rent and putting food on the table. If your job is sucking the soul out of you, don't stay, look around and move on.
maybe you can do acting classes or little theatre or teach acting/voice/scene work on the side to keep yourself in the game and make some extra cash.
I hope this is helpful.
Love from Lenina
Member
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Boston, Mass
Posts: 1,004
Dee, Anna, and DWTBD all pretty much nailed it. As long as the drinking continued there was little chance of finding more meaningful work.
Arieslee, I have not begun looking for a new job. I want to make good and sure that I'm comfortable and stable in sobriety before I get out there to do that. I also have some "life" things to figure out and some growing up to do.
The way things have been for my first months of sobriety I'm not sure how I would handle a new schedule, new set of responsibilities, new co-workers. Might be a little overwhelming. As I said, I've been at the same job for about 10 years, and as much as I don't like it, it does pay the bills. I figure I can stick it out for a few more months while I get these other things sorted out.
After years of drinking and neglecting my life, I can't expect everything to be "all better" immediately after getting sober.
We can do this, Arieslee, but it's going to take some time.
Arieslee, I have not begun looking for a new job. I want to make good and sure that I'm comfortable and stable in sobriety before I get out there to do that. I also have some "life" things to figure out and some growing up to do.
The way things have been for my first months of sobriety I'm not sure how I would handle a new schedule, new set of responsibilities, new co-workers. Might be a little overwhelming. As I said, I've been at the same job for about 10 years, and as much as I don't like it, it does pay the bills. I figure I can stick it out for a few more months while I get these other things sorted out.
After years of drinking and neglecting my life, I can't expect everything to be "all better" immediately after getting sober.
We can do this, Arieslee, but it's going to take some time.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 1,327
Sometimes a supposedly dead end job can be a boon to a creative person. I have a friend who for years worked as a receptionist in a high end cardiology office. It paid the bills quite well (an important caveat, perhaps, since not all jobs do), but the work was boring. When asked about it she would say it was the perfect job. At 5, she'd shut off her phones and paint all evening and wouldn't even think about work until she returned at 9 the next day. Many years later, she has become a commercial success and now supports herself exclusively with her art.
I am a creative person too (writer) and get paid to do that work. I feel blessed to have that job, but it sometimes has its shadow sides too. I do know that now, not drinking, what I produce is better and done in a state of flow and calm.
I am a creative person too (writer) and get paid to do that work. I feel blessed to have that job, but it sometimes has its shadow sides too. I do know that now, not drinking, what I produce is better and done in a state of flow and calm.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 9,029
I'm adding my voice to you can make of it what you will but the drinking will keep you stuck in the dead end job and the resentful angry drinking "I'm better than this" mindset.
I've had dead end jobs. I'm in one now due to my past drinking. I'm paid well, but I feel stuck. But, I've come to view it as a gift. I have a job. I can leave work at the end of the day and not think about work. I'm not working insane hours. Those are all good things. But I couldn't see that or do anything about it until I stopped drinking and started shedding the alcoholic mindset.
I've had dead end jobs. I'm in one now due to my past drinking. I'm paid well, but I feel stuck. But, I've come to view it as a gift. I have a job. I can leave work at the end of the day and not think about work. I'm not working insane hours. Those are all good things. But I couldn't see that or do anything about it until I stopped drinking and started shedding the alcoholic mindset.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Toronto
Posts: 3,195
I got a great job when I finished university with a large bank. Full of opportunity, the sky was the limit. At least, I thought it was. I soon realized that middle management was the best I could hope to reach and I was pretty much stuck in a cubicle staring at a computer screen all day for the foreseeable future.
I hated the work with a passion but I was paid well which kept me from pursuing a new career for a long time. For a good 2-3 years I went to work, did the bare minimum, and went home and drank all night. Rinse and repeat.
I was miserable but all cared about was getting off work so I could drink alone and 'wind down'. This pattern just kept me in a constant alcoholic haze that sapped all ambition and motivation to pursue any new goals. I felt like a failure but was powerless to effect change as I descended further and further into alcoholism.
alcoholics and dead-end jobs are a common pairing I would guess.
I
I hated the work with a passion but I was paid well which kept me from pursuing a new career for a long time. For a good 2-3 years I went to work, did the bare minimum, and went home and drank all night. Rinse and repeat.
I was miserable but all cared about was getting off work so I could drink alone and 'wind down'. This pattern just kept me in a constant alcoholic haze that sapped all ambition and motivation to pursue any new goals. I felt like a failure but was powerless to effect change as I descended further and further into alcoholism.
alcoholics and dead-end jobs are a common pairing I would guess.
I
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 44
thanks for all the adive you guys im finding it really eye opening .the issue with me is that im stuck at a job thats fucntional im in it too pay the bills and thats it .i make 12.75 and hr and get paid bi weekly .i need money because i want to move out of my folks pad and head back west to pursue the acting full time .my only option at the moment is to get me a ball bustin job but make more money so i can save .i also got to stop spending its like whenever i get the money i got spend spend spend ,spend it on booze then spend it on food the next day when im hung over .i thought i could fine a second source of income on the side but its just not realistic .i want to move out i need to be making more money so i need to go work for another company that will pay me more money .y'all are right im making excuses for my situation so i turn to drinking its the drinking that does it though . it clouds your judgement big time
Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 6,224
Originally Posted by Nonsensical 
What would happen if you spent the time (and money) you spend drinking working on finding a new job and/or improving your acting craft? Wouldn't that ultimately be less stressful?
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Recovery is the start of the new life you want if you really go for it.
EndGame
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 4,677
When I was drinking, I was unfit to get a better job, or even a lesser job. I interviewed several times and, though I did not drink directly before my interviews, I was always up late drinking the night before. Meaning that I probably smelled of vodka on more than one occasion. I'm sure I looked awful, I had difficulty expressing myself, radiated failure and other unwanted characteristics for a new hire, and if all those obstacles were not enough, my attitude sucked.
I abandoned all creative, physical, professional and interpersonal pursuits. I ended up taking a job as a security guard at a senior living and physical/medical rehab facility where I could drink while at work. I made a few halfhearted attempts to find work in my field, but my alcoholism made it impossible for me to interview at a level that was necessary for me to get the work I wanted. I even created a position for a psychologist at the facility which I forwarded to the CEO. He replied that he was very interested in pursuing this, but I was fired about a week or so after that as a result of staff complaining about my drinking. The final straw was when a nursing supervisor saw a pint bottle of vodka in the back pocket of my pants. I don't even remember that.
I abandoned all creative, physical, professional and interpersonal pursuits. I ended up taking a job as a security guard at a senior living and physical/medical rehab facility where I could drink while at work. I made a few halfhearted attempts to find work in my field, but my alcoholism made it impossible for me to interview at a level that was necessary for me to get the work I wanted. I even created a position for a psychologist at the facility which I forwarded to the CEO. He replied that he was very interested in pursuing this, but I was fired about a week or so after that as a result of staff complaining about my drinking. The final straw was when a nursing supervisor saw a pint bottle of vodka in the back pocket of my pants. I don't even remember that.
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