Proud, Paid, Peaceful: A Love Letter to My 9-to-5
We have seen enough posts on social media, hating on the system of 9-to-5 jobs, screaming on the top of their lungs about how bad it’s all for mental health, how less time it leaves to have a normal life, making people who earn a respectable, decent living with their 9-to-5 jobs feel terrible about themselves, because they cannot afford to sit on the balcony of a mountain resort, posting random pics with caption sukoon or sip margaritas on a beach somewhere on a random Tuesday. I am not going to lie, there was a time when posts like those and people like them, made me feel bad about my job too. Constant exposure to such negativity turned me resentful about my job, and if I were to be honest, the pressure and stress from the job made it effortlessly easy. But thankfully, it didn’t take too long for the reminder to surface that grass is always greener on the other side. And that I was being ungrateful —letting someone else’s truth, drive my own. It was, just like how the kids these days say, toxic.
I am tired of the internet preaching me how I am doing everything wrong in my life or dictating how I should feel.
If you are too, then you are at the right place.
Welcome to the other side
It’s where we understand the importance of being employed. The other side where we are okay not being “a business owner” or “self employed”. Welcome to the other side where we understand we are always going to be working for a boss and we are okay with that because it pays our bills. The other side where we appreciate our 9-5, because it puts food on our tables. Allows us to afford nice things that our heart desires. Funds our lifestyle that we are so proud of putting on display. The other side where we take pride in ourselves for being financially independent, and for working hard. The other side where we do not let what we work get condensed to mere “corporate mazdoori” memes.
Not convinced? Let me show you how your 9-to-5 helps, pictorially.
Journey of loving the 9-to-5 way of life
So here’s to us — the ones who show up every morning, reply to calendar invites, meet deadlines, navigate office politics, and still manage to live beautiful lives outside of our Outlook calendars. Here’s to the ones who don’t need to quit everything to find themselves — because they know who they are, even within the structure of a paycheck and a PowerPoint.
This is not a rebellion against dreams — it’s a reminder that stability is a dream too. That fulfilment doesn’t only come in the form of quitting, escaping, or running away. Sometimes it comes from staying, growing, and owning the life you’ve built — one earned salary at a time.
You don’t have to romanticize burnout to prove you’re working hard, and you don’t have to reject structure to claim freedom. You can love your 9-5 and still live a life full of color, choice, and self-worth.
Because success doesn’t have just one aesthetic.
Sometimes, it looks like a monthly payslip, a Saturday off, and a quiet, well-earned sense of peace.
That’s not failure. That’s not mediocrity. That’s enough. And sometimes, enough is everything.
ᖭི༏ᖫྀ
Namaste,
𝙰𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑