Opening Doors

Working in the auto/banking industry I saw it coming.  I was pulled into the abysmal grasp of cyclical unemployment and I was not the least bit surprised.

It was "Innaguration Day."    History was presenting itself in the form of our first African American President.  Change was in the air, hope permeated my surroundings, oh what a glorious day!  And then the phone rang. 

"I wish I had better news to talk about."  My heart sank a little.  Whenever someone starts a conversation with either those words or "Well, at least you still have the other limb..." you know it can't be good. 

She went on to say that she was "so sorry", that she tried to create a position for me, but Minnesota, as it is now, is just "overstaffed."   I remember hearing Matt Lauer in the background talking about George W. and thinking that this is the first and most probably last time he and I will ever have anything in common.  

Being that I officed out of my home, my husband was there to witness me making the cut throat action with my pointer finger and hanging myself from an imaginary neuse...He knew, because he expected it too. 

And then she said the magic words...Three months paid salary and two months of benefits.  Well!  That changes everything!

My job and I fell out of love with each other a while ago.  I had been wanting to pursue other opportunities, something more creative, somewhere I could write and be more myself.  But it was just too easy to stay where I was.  The pay was good, the benefits were good and most importantly I loved my clients and my coworkers.  

But change is inevitable, and this change was made without my consultation.  This time I was given a push and I'm going to take that push and run with it.   

A friend of mine wrote me something that gave me pause "Your job does not define who you are-It's just a means to provide."  I thought about this and realized that he is right, my job that I had did not define me, but maybe the career I am seeking needs to. 

I want this blog to be about my journey for gainful employment.  I will do some soul searching, I will most probably fail at some things, and succeed at others, but most importantly I will have tried my best. 

So, here's to my future...Today is a new day and tomorrow will be even better!