Do you enjoy your job?
I enjoy my job most of the time, but it can be stressful, especially this time of year. My job has gotten more complicated over the years, and I have grown tired of it. I’m itching to move on to the next phase of my life – retirement.
I have known people who worked for the same company their entire career, forty years or more. I have been working for my current employer for just seven years. In my thirty-eight year career as an accountant, I left three other jobs after eight years. This pattern makes me believe I have a “seven year itch” with respect to jobs. It just takes me a while to scratch it.
I was today-years-old when I learned the origin of the phrase “seven year itch.” According to Wikipedia, the phrase was first used by Henry David Thoreau in reference to the skin disease scabies!
The phrase as I knew it is based on the belief that happiness in a marriage or long-term relationship declines after seven years or so. I became familiar with the phrase watching The Seven Year Itch starring Marilyn Monroe.
Today, the use of the phrase “seven year itch” has expanded to other “cycles of dissatisfaction,” such as jobs or homes. It seems appropriate to use it to describe my recurring job dissatisfaction.
When I considered the timing of my retirement, I initially planned to stay eight years to match my other long-term jobs. But I realized that is silly. I really don’t want to live my life counting down the days as I am now (15 days!!).
Innermost Being 