Nothing's Perfect

Last night, at the end of my walk home from work, I rode up in the elevator with a building neighbor. Having not seen her in a while, I asked her if she was still working in the same place as she had been, with a commute much like the one I had done while working on the online soaps. She nodded, and bemoaned the commute, but added that the people were great, the work was interesting, and that nothing was perfect.
 
I've found myself thinking a lot about what she said. In that moment, though weary from her long day, she was able to point out the things she genuinely appreciated about her situation, rather than focus only on the part that she didn't like.
 
How often do we get the perfect combination of salary, interesting work, work/life balance, and working/commuting conditions? If we were allowed to choose, which would be at the top of our list? The answer might surprise us.
 
Much of the time, we are not really given a choice. We take the jobs that are available. We work long hours if we have to. We take the trains or buses necessary to go to an interesting job or to the job that pays the most money. And my neighbor is probably right--nothing is perfect. We just make the best of it. For her, daily commuting allows her to avoid long business trips, and for me--well, it depends on the day. It may not be perfect, but most days, it's pretty good. And most days, that's close enough to perfect for me.