Jonathon Robert Nield

Why I’m Abandoning My Republican Identity

After a lot of deep thought around my political affiliation, I’ve realized that my uneasiness has stemmed from the fact that I have a political affiliation. We should not confine ourselves to one of the two party ideologies that exist in America. It is necessary that we are always critical of popular belief and constantly challenge ourselves to understand why it is that we believe what we believe. Affiliation with parties allows us to blindly follow without understanding and challenging why we support such beliefs. I’m not saying this as a blanket statement that covers everyone but it definitely applies to my own beliefs and I will venture to say, the majority of Americans.

Unfortunately, there may be those who believe this means I’m becoming more liberal or even more conservative. That is not even the point because then I would just be defining myself by a higher level of ideology. I have dabbled and explored other political groups hoping that maybe they will more closely align with my individual beliefs such as the libertarians or the “Tea Party” (I use quotes since they technically are not a political party). But I realized this week that my need for an association with a political party is completely irrelevant (minus campaign financing purposes if I ever run for political office which will not be happening). I believe that what I believe is true to me and that is all the affirmation I need. I don’t need to align it with a mass of people. Of course there are likely millions of people in the world who see eye to eye with me on these issues which is great and I look forward to meeting and conversing with them on all these issues facing our country today. However, I will not define my beliefs by any future founding of a party that aligns with my own beliefs. I just do not see a point. 

Of course I will vote in the elections. I’m sure that 9.9 times out of 10 it will be a Republican that I vote for and I also bet 10 times out of 10, I will not agree 100% with the Presidential Candidate because I refuse to blindly follow the belief flavors of each election cycle. I will always know that I believe what I believe because it is in the interest of protecting the freedoms of every single person in our country regardless of sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, ability, origin, and choices they make in their life as long as they do not infringe on the rights of others. Unfortunately I believe both Republican and Democrats no longer support this basic idea and therefore I must abandon my Republican identity as well as political parties as a whole. 

From here on out, I will be defined by my words and actions and nothing more. 

Yay Woot Off!

Sleep on airplanes… or lack thereof

I’m not sure why I cannot sleep on planes. I know they are safe. I fly them all the time. I’m usually dead tired. The one time I did fall asleep was ironically on a flight back from Orlando where I was so hopped up on Starbucks and Red Bull (yup I had multiple of both) that I kept hitting the people next to me because of all my twitching. I guess its still the fact that I find flying such a wonder that I don’t want to miss a minute of it. Regardless, I really wish I could sleep on my flight back home today. 

Every Day is a Crossroad

I’m one of the lucky ones. Or blessed. Or accomplished. So many ways to look at my life. Probably a mix of all of the above. I have an amazing supportive wife, perfect daughter, awesome career, yet I always am thirsting for more. Its not materialism although more money would definitely not hurt my situation. I always want a bigger greater challenge and my life seems to always rise to the occasion of giving me just that. 

In regards to my career, I often go through these bursts of soul searching. I have been long overdue for a good deep talk with myself and this last one was quite a discussion. I must have split personalities to some degree to be able to argue so well with myself! I use to believe that I would reach certain points in my life that were crossroads being inflected by a decision that had to be made. I realized that this way of thinking was all wrong. Every day of my life is a crossroad. There is always a decision to be made every day. On this particular day… which turned into a week long thought marathon, my mind ran wild with “what do I do… what do I do…” Let me preface this with going back to my opening where I said I am lucky, blessed, and accomplished but by no means is life easy. Money is tight, my daughter has costly medical bills, student loans repayments are on the horizon, and free time is virtually nonexistent. But life is still good despite its challenges. 

So now the question I was asking myself: Am I in the right career? Is my passionate pursuit of an airline career truly in the best interest of my family? Am I making a financial mistake staying in an industry that does not pay nearly as well as many others? 

What a ridiculous question I realized. After looking at many various options including the tech sector, railroad, law enforcement, even Facebook, I realized I will never be able to tear myself away from airlines. Its in my blood now. Its too late. I’m trapped in this industry and I couldn’t be happier about it. Not only that, but I work for the best company within the airline industry and I’d be crazy to leave. I realized that there will be no industry that will quench my thirst for “more” than the insanely volatile and ever changing world of carrying thousands upon thousands of people at 35,000 feet and 500+ mph thousands upon thousands of miles and that’s just on Monday. Tuesday we will do it all over again. Then again on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. New Years, Easter, Christmas, we will do it. 

What about my family? Here is the funny thing, Southwest Airlines is an extension of my own family at home. They have taken care of us through all the hardships and I don’t mean just emotionally (Read http://www.blogsouthwest.com/blog/we-are-family). How could my family ever leave that kind of support? There is also something to be said about how the quality of your work life reflects your attitude at home and vice versa. 

For the first time ever, I am now at peace with the knowledge that I have found my home in my career and that every day I can be one of the few who can honestly say he LUVs his job. 

Plus, I LUV the smell of jet fuel in the morning. 

Do something you love.