So thanks to those of you who commented or emailed about my job dilemma post. I think most of us have been in a situation (work or otherwise) where we've had to choose love or money. I chose love, for now anyway. I'm staying at my current job. Here's my rationale.

1. I like my job. I like my boss, I like my coworkers, I feel successful, I'm learning a lot. These things have never been as true across the board as they are now, even though the pay could be better.

2. I'm in a situation where I don't need to make a lot of money. I live with Sean in his house. I have no kids, I have no debt. Expenses are low, and the learning I've been doing from this saving money and living the good life blog is helping me get costs even lower.

3. We couldn't sell our house, even if we wanted to. There are comparable houses in our neighborhood that have been for sale for a year. Sean had the house appraised six months ago and it's worth less then he bought it for. So relocating would mean maintaining two seperate households and being a landlord from afar. So we're staying for now.

4. I don't have the energy to do another job search at the moment. Yes there are other communications-related positions around where I live in Downeast Maine, but very few. It tends to be competitive and there is no guarentee that I'll get a job in the field I want in any amount of time.

5. I live in a beautiful place and close to family and friends. It is a little expensive to live here but being close to Bar Harbor and close enough to my hometown of Fort Kent to drive there is nice, especially this past year with what my family has been going through.

6. I have no commute. I can literally be at work in 5-10 minutes, depending on traffic. The money I save on gas and the time I save not commuting is worth at least $200 a month (estimating a 30 minute commute that many people who live near me have). And the extra time I have in my day allows me to blog (among other things).

7. I have a lot to learn still. I've learned a lot about websites, blogging, newspapers and many other things this past year. I think there is still more to learn.

8. Sales could be a new skill I develop. The ability to sell things is one skill that is valued across many careers. If I can get very part time selling experience (5-8 hours a week my boss estimates), and if I become good at it, this could make me even more marketable.

9. Breaking Even, Inc. Communications (my very microenterprise) is still really important to me. If I am selling people on websites and web advertisements, it is just another way to make new contacts for my web content creation and blog consulting business. I think there is a market for this in my geographic area and I think I could convice people of that if I could meet them face to face. (Though I love this blog, I think I'm much better in person).

10. Doing more selling and content creation at work means I can get rid of the more boring aspects of my job. I talked to my boss about freeing up my time by eliminating some boring and seemingly unnecessary tasks. He is helping me look for solutions. One change taking effect next week will free up about 5 hours of my time.

So these last two weeks, I've learned a lot about not only the company I work for and those I could work for but about myself and what's important to me. Here are some lessons I've learned:

1. Talk to your supervisor about your job. You don't need a job offer to come up to set up a meeting. If you are doing good work in one area and having trouble with another, talk solutions. If you don't advocate for yourself (and sell your boss on why it's good for the company), no one else will.

2. Listen to those who see talents in you. You may be too close to it to see them. I would have never thought that I would be good at selling things but the ad manager has wanted me to sell web advertising for months.

3. Know what's important to you, not just your bottom line. Is it important for you to have an hour lunch everyday? Or not have to travel too much? Know thyself, and thou shalt knoweth thy bestest job.

So I feel good about all this. Resolution is a wonderful thing.

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