Overworked Syndrome

I think I'm ready for another crazy week - I think... I've got so much going on that it can be a bit daunting to look at my calendar and be enthusiastic about it. Mostly, my calendar consists of work - but who's doesn't? But work is becoming different to me...somehow more of a chore than ever before. I know it sounds wierd, but I think I don't love my job anymore. Do I really not love my job, or am I suffering from what most Americans are suffering from - Being Overworked?

My job used to consist of just going to work when I was scheduled, serving the tables, collecting my tips, and then I was free to leave. Now, my job has had a new layer added to it - F.O.L. It's short for Foundations of Leadership and it is what a very wise former manager of mine used to say is a "Stepping Stone" to MANAGEMENT. Ahh, management. The Golden word for success? I'm not so sure anymore. Allow me to elaborate. When I started with Olive Garden, it was merely another job so I could get the bills paid. During training, I saw many attractive things about the company that I liked. I had worked for other "corporate" restaurants before, and I really wasn't bothered by all of their "policies" and such. I wanted to move forward with my infantile career at Olive Garden. I wanted to be a trainer. Then a manager. Then a General Manager. Then, maybe a Director, or a Divisional Training Manager. All of these titles were so appealing to me. And I wanted it! So, for the next 2 years I worked my butt off for the Olive Garden, along with the managers that I was working for - and also the managers that I would soon work for. But, for all of the work and effort that we were all putting into Olive Garden, we weren't getting a whole lot in return. One manager recieved empty promises after empty promises and finally was fired. Yeah, fired. This is mainly because a new manager made her way to our humble restaurant and desperately wanted this one managers job - and she would do anything to get it. And, to make a long story short, she did. Another manager was fired a short time later for purchasing a game system from an employee. A disgruntled and jealous employee decided that this manager was paying too much attention to the employee he bought the game system from, so she told another manager. He was promptly fired as well. Another manager was lost because he simply was too new, and didn't really understand ALL of the "rules" in a way that would have suited him.
All of this happened in a short period of time. Around 3 months. I like to think of it as a manager a month. Slowly, the glamour and the attraction to making a career with Olive Garden started to dim and dwindle.
I am finishing the F.O.L., my stepping stone, and then who knows where that will take me. I am really starting to doubt if I will have a future with this company. It's scary. Scary to not know. Change is the only constant thing in our lives.
Oh yeah, and Oprah said "Doubt means NO!" Maybe I should start listening to my internal warning signs - and also to Oprah...Is it really telling me what I think it is, or am I twisting the feelings and warnings to say what I want it to say?
I can't be sure.