It’s very easy to get into a negative mind-set about DevOps.  If you are shovelling **, you will lose enthusiasm for development, infrastructure automation, pragmatic documentation, and will forget to re-read the Phoenix project.

More worryingly, you will lose enthusiasm, and stop driving your career forward.

If you are perpetually retro-fitting documentation, not cutting code, manually fixing problems for more than x acceptable timeframe.

It’s time to wake-up, and smell the coffee.  The first thing to do (is stop reading this), go out for a walk, and grab a coffee (how ironic, or a mint tea, if you prefer).

Regrettably, you are not a DevOps practitioner.  You are fixing someones else’s reactive situation.  No difference to people in the same situation ten years.  You probably care way-to-much, and are grinding your teeth in exasperation.

**It's time to refocus.  Ask yourself.  What am I good at?  What do I want to do?  **

Remove yourself from the situation you are in.  Find an opportunity where you can practice what you believe in.  Follow your gut instinct.

Please don't get stuck in a rut.

Use your spare-time to play with new technology, learn new things, and find a pragmatic way forward.

Remember, you are in charge of your own career.  If you are lucky enough to have a mentor, make use of them.