Ironing or Surfing? The choice is yours.
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“Ironing boards are surfboards that gave up their dreams and got a boring job. Don’t be an ironing board.”
I came across this quote somewhere, sometime, and for the life of me, I can’t remember where or when. A sign of my advancing years, perhaps?
Still, the quote has stuck with me. Maybe because it makes me think about boring jobs—or, more accurately, the jobs people secretly wish they were doing instead.
Take a former colleague of mine. She worked in a college career center helping students discover their dream jobs, but if you asked her what she really wanted to do, she'd tell you she wanted to work for OPI, the nail polish company, naming new polish colors.
It's a real job.
Someone actually gets paid to dream up names like Teal the Cows Come Home (a gorgeous teal) or Polly Want a Lacquer (a soft blush pink). Imagine sitting around a conference table trying to think of nail polish puns all day. That sounds far more entertaining than most staff meetings I've attended.
Then there's another friend who worked in nonprofit fundraising. While she was busy writing donor appeals, what she really dreamed about was designing greeting cards.
Honestly, what a wonderful combination of creativity—illustration, lettering, clever sayings, beautiful paper, die cuts, and color palettes. How rewarding to think that your creations are being used for celebrations or connections.
I also know a person who left a successful marketing career to become a full-time blogger. She has built a thriving business through advertising and affiliate commissions. She makes her own schedule, works from wherever she wants, and has turned something she genuinely enjoys into a career.
Other friends have kept their day jobs, but support their creative outlets after hours. They make jewelry, hand-decorated cookies, and crafts, selling them at fairs and online, which provides supplemental income and feeds their souls.
I admire people who refuse to become the dreaded ironing board.
They don't necessarily quit everything and chase an impossible dream. Instead, they find ways to keep a little surfing in their lives. Maybe it's a side business. Maybe it's a hobby that earns a few dollars. Maybe it's simply making time for something that reminds them they're creative, curious, or adventurous.
Of course, maybe you’ve already found that really rewarding job.
According to Pew Research, approximately half of all U.S. workers are extremely or very satisfied with their job. I was a bit surprised by that number.
Then again, maybe those are the people designing video games, inventing toys, testing water slides, diving for golf balls, blowing glass, buying cheese, hanging Christmas lights, or taste-testing chocolate. Believe it or not, every one of those is an actual job.
Which makes me wonder…
When I was in high school, I remember taking those career aptitude tests that were supposed to reveal my future. At that time, females were told to pursue careers as a teacher, secretary, or nurse.
Never once did they mention "professional nail polish namer."
I feel like they left out some pretty important options.
For many of us, our careers have been the ironing board. They paid the mortgage, put food on the table, helped raise children, and gave us security. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
But retirement is a wonderful season because the ironing board can finally step aside, and we can let the surfboard come back out.
Always wanted to paint? Paint.
Love baking bread, making greeting cards, woodworking, photography, quilting, gardening, writing, golfing, or crafting? Now you have the time to enjoy it. Maybe it simply fills your days with happiness. Or maybe it turns into a little side business that pays for vacations, spoils the grandchildren, or funds your next hobby.
Work doesn't have to define us.
Joy should.
So if your surfboard has spent the last forty years disguised as an ironing board, perhaps it's time to dust it off, wax it up, and head back to the waves.
After all, it's never too late to stop ironing and start surfing.
What is a fun job or hobby you wish you had pursued or are pursuing now?