Hey guys, as the title suggest, I could use a little "life advice". I am feeling, I don't know, stagnant may be a good term for it. I am only 23 years old, will be 24 in May. I am self employed, and I love what I do. I am a lamp-worker, that is, essentially a glass blower, who uses a torch to heat the glass rather than a furnace. I'm finding it very hard these past few years to be motivated, or even enjoy what I'm doing for a living. Living the "starving artist" lifestyle can be rather stressful at times, along with all the other duties that being your own boss requires. The aspects of taxes, no health insurance, no "real" retirement plan, lack of stability, long hours with hardly any days off, getting orders done in an acceptable time frame, the buying/replacing and keeping on top of raw materials such as glass, oxygen, propane, tools, etc., are starting to really pile up and turn into a large amount of stress.
That said, I do still love what I do. I work for a distributor, a very good one at that. This means I do not have to do any leg work to sell my work, and I can use that time to make more glass, which compensates for the 30% cut they take for selling my work. That is very fair for what they do for me. They buy everything I make, and usually get me my checks within a reasonable amount of time. Usually.. The biggest problem is usually my lack of productivity, which I feel is a direct result of the stress I am under at times, and the fact that I am extremely bored with the repetitiveness of what I do. I am a production worker, so I am always making the same things over, and over, and over, again. I got into this because it is something I love, and I wanted to make a living doing something other than the factory grind for the rest of my life. Thing is, the way I work, I may as well be a factory worker, except I am the factory. Even with all this work I do, I feel as though I'm just spinning my tires.. I'm starting to have doubts as to if this is the way I want my life to play out. In fact, I have been feeling this way for the past year or so now. My girlfriend is a nurse, so she makes good money, but I feel it is extremely unfair for her to have to pick up my slack when I don't get things done on time and bills are due. I always make the money, albeit sometimes a little late. I still feel bad about this though.
When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a part of law enforcement. A sniper for the S.W.A.T. team to be exact. As I got a little bit older, these desires began to fade away as I started to gain a sense of dislike for police and authority. I was not a trouble maker as a kid per say, but I did a lot of things I probably should not have either, including but not limited to drugs. I never did any of the "hard drugs" or never was a drug addict, but I did do my fair share of partaking as well.
As I have gotten older and matured, I no longer have that feeling of disdain towards law enforcement. I do not care for drug use anymore, though I also do not agree with the war on drugs as well. I feel that the war on drugs is a gross misuse of both federal and local resources/money, and infringes on the liberties of a "free citizen". I do not feel putting someone in jail for drugs does any good for the user, or the tax payer. Not for non-violent drug offenders at least. I do feel that violent drug offenders, or addicts who steal to get their fix SHOULD be locked up though.
As I age and mature, I am starting to feel that pull towards law enforcement again. I do not desire to be one of the "power trip" type of police officers that most people have experienced at least once in their lives, or the guy who is just out to get ya for every little thing. I would like to be the type of police officer who does good for his community, and sets the example of a person of exemplary morals and values to the community at large. I want to help people, and make them feel good about law enforcement, not hurt people. I do understand that may be part of the job at times as well. This is where I really feel I need some advice, and I thought what better place than here, seeing as there is a good amount of LEO's on here and people of like-mindedness.. I think..
As I said, I do love what I do, but I am feeling stuck in life. I feel like a career in law enforcement will get me much further in life. It feel like it would allow me to do more of the things I enjoy, both physically, and financially. Glass will always hold a special place in my heart, and I could always keep it as a hobby I think. This would also allow me to do only the things I want to do glass-wise, instead of only the things I need to do in order to get a paycheck. So the question begs to be asked, should I change my career to a job in law enforcement? I think I would enjoy it quite a bit. It would give me the opportunity to help individuals in the community, and make my community a better, safer place all together. I think it would give a me general sense of doing good, which my current job does not provide so much. There's also the added plus of getting to use and train with one of my favorite things.. Firearms! Not to sound like I want to shoot somebody. That is the last thing I would want to have to do, but I feel I could if the situation required it. I would just really love the aspect of being highly trained in firearms and self defense more so than I am! At this time I feel as though I'm leaning more towards yes, than I am leaning towards no.
I have some questions though. I know what I have read on the internet regarding these questions, but I would like to hear it from people with real life experience in law enforcement. How is the job market for law enforcement? How is the general pay? Do you truly enjoy what you do? Do most departments in Indiana pay for you to go to the police academy, or is that on me? If I need a college degree, do most departments pay for you to go after getting hired on, or do I need to get a degree first? Getting a degree first may be a bit of an issue for me due to already being so wrapped up in work, and not having enough money as it is to go to school, and work at the same time. My girlfriend says she doesn't mind carrying the wait for awhile if that is the case though. I would feel pretty bad if she did have to though. I'm feeling like I should set up a day to speak with my local police chief for further advice, and maybe set up a ride along in order to get a small feel for the job. Is this a good route to go? I feel it is. I think it would be really cool to work my way up through the ranks to something like homicide detective or something similar one day. I understand this may take awhile. How hard is this to achieve? It seems like most detectives end up working as a "normal Officer" for 10 or 15 years before being promoted to detective. I would not have an issue with that. How accurate is that assumption?
Sorry for the really long read, but the stress of my work has been weighing heavily on my mind lately, and I have been thinking about this for awhile now. Any advice you guys can offer is greatly appreciated. I'm quite positive I have a lot more questions as well that are just not coming to mind right now. I will most likely ask them as I think of them as well. Thanks guys.
That said, I do still love what I do. I work for a distributor, a very good one at that. This means I do not have to do any leg work to sell my work, and I can use that time to make more glass, which compensates for the 30% cut they take for selling my work. That is very fair for what they do for me. They buy everything I make, and usually get me my checks within a reasonable amount of time. Usually.. The biggest problem is usually my lack of productivity, which I feel is a direct result of the stress I am under at times, and the fact that I am extremely bored with the repetitiveness of what I do. I am a production worker, so I am always making the same things over, and over, and over, again. I got into this because it is something I love, and I wanted to make a living doing something other than the factory grind for the rest of my life. Thing is, the way I work, I may as well be a factory worker, except I am the factory. Even with all this work I do, I feel as though I'm just spinning my tires.. I'm starting to have doubts as to if this is the way I want my life to play out. In fact, I have been feeling this way for the past year or so now. My girlfriend is a nurse, so she makes good money, but I feel it is extremely unfair for her to have to pick up my slack when I don't get things done on time and bills are due. I always make the money, albeit sometimes a little late. I still feel bad about this though.
When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a part of law enforcement. A sniper for the S.W.A.T. team to be exact. As I got a little bit older, these desires began to fade away as I started to gain a sense of dislike for police and authority. I was not a trouble maker as a kid per say, but I did a lot of things I probably should not have either, including but not limited to drugs. I never did any of the "hard drugs" or never was a drug addict, but I did do my fair share of partaking as well.
As I have gotten older and matured, I no longer have that feeling of disdain towards law enforcement. I do not care for drug use anymore, though I also do not agree with the war on drugs as well. I feel that the war on drugs is a gross misuse of both federal and local resources/money, and infringes on the liberties of a "free citizen". I do not feel putting someone in jail for drugs does any good for the user, or the tax payer. Not for non-violent drug offenders at least. I do feel that violent drug offenders, or addicts who steal to get their fix SHOULD be locked up though.
As I age and mature, I am starting to feel that pull towards law enforcement again. I do not desire to be one of the "power trip" type of police officers that most people have experienced at least once in their lives, or the guy who is just out to get ya for every little thing. I would like to be the type of police officer who does good for his community, and sets the example of a person of exemplary morals and values to the community at large. I want to help people, and make them feel good about law enforcement, not hurt people. I do understand that may be part of the job at times as well. This is where I really feel I need some advice, and I thought what better place than here, seeing as there is a good amount of LEO's on here and people of like-mindedness.. I think..
As I said, I do love what I do, but I am feeling stuck in life. I feel like a career in law enforcement will get me much further in life. It feel like it would allow me to do more of the things I enjoy, both physically, and financially. Glass will always hold a special place in my heart, and I could always keep it as a hobby I think. This would also allow me to do only the things I want to do glass-wise, instead of only the things I need to do in order to get a paycheck. So the question begs to be asked, should I change my career to a job in law enforcement? I think I would enjoy it quite a bit. It would give me the opportunity to help individuals in the community, and make my community a better, safer place all together. I think it would give a me general sense of doing good, which my current job does not provide so much. There's also the added plus of getting to use and train with one of my favorite things.. Firearms! Not to sound like I want to shoot somebody. That is the last thing I would want to have to do, but I feel I could if the situation required it. I would just really love the aspect of being highly trained in firearms and self defense more so than I am! At this time I feel as though I'm leaning more towards yes, than I am leaning towards no.
I have some questions though. I know what I have read on the internet regarding these questions, but I would like to hear it from people with real life experience in law enforcement. How is the job market for law enforcement? How is the general pay? Do you truly enjoy what you do? Do most departments in Indiana pay for you to go to the police academy, or is that on me? If I need a college degree, do most departments pay for you to go after getting hired on, or do I need to get a degree first? Getting a degree first may be a bit of an issue for me due to already being so wrapped up in work, and not having enough money as it is to go to school, and work at the same time. My girlfriend says she doesn't mind carrying the wait for awhile if that is the case though. I would feel pretty bad if she did have to though. I'm feeling like I should set up a day to speak with my local police chief for further advice, and maybe set up a ride along in order to get a small feel for the job. Is this a good route to go? I feel it is. I think it would be really cool to work my way up through the ranks to something like homicide detective or something similar one day. I understand this may take awhile. How hard is this to achieve? It seems like most detectives end up working as a "normal Officer" for 10 or 15 years before being promoted to detective. I would not have an issue with that. How accurate is that assumption?
Sorry for the really long read, but the stress of my work has been weighing heavily on my mind lately, and I have been thinking about this for awhile now. Any advice you guys can offer is greatly appreciated. I'm quite positive I have a lot more questions as well that are just not coming to mind right now. I will most likely ask them as I think of them as well. Thanks guys.
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