Craving Change, Clearing Hurdles & Taking Risks

I tweeted a while back that I thought 2012 would be a year of monumental change(s) in our family. For many reasons this is proving to be true.

If we really want to be full and generous in spirit, 

we have no choice but to trust at some level.
~ Rita Dove

I found out last Sunday evening that I had been elected to my Parish's Pastoral Council. It is a three year term. It's one of those things that I wasn't ready to run for in years past. This was the third year in a row that I had been nominated. I felt like if there were a "right" time, I would never run. There would always be some excuse to make up about why I chose not to run. Third time was the charm - I took a risk & tossed my hat in the ring, along with 5 other men, mind you, and I guess it was meant to be. Unless of course someone fixed the ballots. ;  )

Of course I'm only kidding, I have my first Pastoral Council meeting in a little over a week. I may have some good stories to share with my in-laws come Easter this year about the start of this experience. We shall see.

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
~ Mother Teresa

My baby boy turned five a couple of weeks ago. A huge milestone for our family. We are anticipating big changes in our routines in preparation for him attending Kindergarten in the fall. 

I know my twitter followers are probably tired of hearing about the all-day Kindergarden lottery, but it was something we really wanted for Munchkin & knew we may not get. As working parents the whole school timetable is so hard to navigate & overall it's been very stressful.

We had our first 60+ degree day in Minnesota & it's only the 10th of March - crazy, I know. We went to get Munchkin a new helmet to use with his bike & scooter. He chose red of course - his favorite color.  We found also found a set with elbow & knee pads, plus a pair of gloves. He was so excited.  The first trip of the season on the bike, was up to the mailbox & there was our letter from the school - post lottery. One of the first "big deals" in our kid's life & guess what! We did NOT get an all day spot.  Darn it - so disappointing, but there's nothing we can do - it's out of our hands.

“Pitiful is the person who is afraid of taking risks. Perhaps this person will never be disappointed or disillusioned; perhaps she won't suffer the way people do when they have a dream to follow. But when the person looks back-she will hear her heart”

~ Paulo Coelho

We have to take the good with the bad - the thrills along with the things that make you want to cry.  Life is so much harder to accept when you are not in full control of all the outcomes.  Not everything makes sense. You have to deal & let go of the fact that things could be very different & perhaps too predictable if everything always happened exactly as you had wished.

There are a few other things in the fire that our family is anxiously awaiting feedback on, things that would make a huge difference for us in the coming years. If we hadn't been craving for things to change, clearing away the hurdles and taking risks, we wouldn't have a chance of reaping any of the rewards that might go along with those risks. And for that reason I'm so glad we took the leap.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like: Stream of Consciousness Sunday: Caught Up In A Twist Of Fate or Trying Hard to "Read"

My #MnNice Encounter

Hop on over to my Tumblr & find my heart pumping #MnNice experience from earlier this evening.

I came home tonight super excited because the last of the materials for our mini... http://tumblr.com/x6j1b6msyy

Recharged!

There's nothing like a long weekend to recharge the soul.   The past few weeks have been hectic, one day bleeding into the next. At the end of the day it's hard to say if I could have accomplished any more with the time I had left. I am especially thankful for this Memorial Day holiday.  

A little more sleep, a lot more time to enjoy with my son. More time to shop for the week, plan meals, do laundry and to read.  I picked the first ripe strawberry from our garden for my son & husband to share. We cut a few peonies to enjoy ~ they will be gone before we know it.

I'm more than halfway through Harvey Mackay's "Use Your Head To Get Your Foot In The Door." One of my favorite chapters thus far is one called "Use Your Head, but Follow Your Heart!" It's the story of how Harvey first met Tony Dungy & the path their relationship took over the years. There was a lot of give & take of opinions & advice between the two - the student & the mentor. The decisions Tony made in his career often took an unconventional turn. Nonetheless the result in the end was priceless - Tony couldn't have made any better choices if he tried & the rewards he has reaped along with his stellar accomplishments have made it all worth it. The chapter's three key takeaways were:

1. "Don't ever give up in the aftermath of a setback."

2. "Accept detours if they contribute to your ultimate goal."

3. Most important of all, follow your heart."

Over the past couple of weeks I've wondered if I've missed out on anything because I haven't had as much dedicated time to network & search for a permanent role.  After all finding a job is a job & it takes so much time & energy to fit all the pieces together and then wait for someone else to agree that the final picture is a thing of beauty.

You are never guaranteed what tomorrow will bring, so be thankful for today & make the best of every minute. 

Harvey consistently reinforces the importance of building & nurturing one's network. It's not a one & done type of proposition, it's a journey of constant discovery.  People are constantly flowing in and out ~ up and down in priority on our personal lists.  You need to regularly re-evaluate what each person brings to your table as well as what you are able to bring to theirs. You need to know that there is a high level of integrity & trust among your network - your connections.  My conclusion: Building and maintaining trust in your business or personal relationships is essential. Don't lose sight of that truth. Always trust your gut. 

In this case, I'm going to continue to trust that this contract position is the right move at the right time and that by being agile & doing things that perhaps I didn't intend to be doing, I'll learn even more than what I expect about what my next role should be. We all should take each day as they come and breathe deeply. After these last few days, I consider myself recharged.

Everyone Loves Lemonade

The weather has been nice enough that the little neighbor girls set up a table yesterday, just outside of our cul-de-sac, and were selling lemonade. They did the same thing last summer on the hottest days. I always feel compelled to buy a glass & to pay them a bit more than what they were asking for.  They wanted $0.25/glass & were surprised when I gave them $0.50 & then told them to keep the extra quarter. Everyone loves lemonade - right?! It never matters if I really want to drink the lemonade or not, it's more about supporting their entrepreneurship & to help make them feel successful at the end of the day.

I recently ordered a documentary called "Lemonade". (It's also available to watch for free on Hulu.) I initially watched the trailer & knew I needed to own it because it hit so close to home. It spotlights the stories of people who have experienced layoffs & who worked in a creative agency environment. That's the 1st part of the storyline.

 

Some days just take so much more strength than others to get through. There's nothing quite like being on unemployment road, one that doesn't seem to end. You really want to get off & recharge with a little nourishment, but there are no exit signs in sight.

Where there is pain, cures will be found.

Where there is poverty, wealth will be supplied.

Where there are questions, answers will be given.

Spend less time worrying and more time trusting.

 - Jalil al-Din Rumi

There have been times when I just wanted to be able to let the tears come, but they wouldn't flow - almost like the tears knew it wouldn't change anything & that I wouldn't have felt any better having had that brief moment of release. Every day that goes by is a test of my ability to trust in the unknowns around the job search process... to trust in the powers that are beyond my control. I can do my part: to research the companies, to make the right inside connections, to request the interview, to sell myself & what I have to offer that satisfies the needs of the companies and do the follow-through after the interviews, but am not the decision-maker, at least not until an offer letter arrives. It has to be okay that for each situation, the processes, boundaries and protocol will be different. 

These feelings aren't even about going through the grief process post-layoff. I've been there & done that. I've moved on.  It's more about needing to know the way forward & developing that magic sauce that allows you to be "normal" or "made whole" & what others would say is a "fully contributing member of society" again. That's the phase of healing in which I find myself in now. 

I ordered "Lemonade" with the hopes that I could learn from how others have squeezed their unemployment lemons and made virtual lemonade, which is the 2nd part of the documentary's focus. The subjects turned their focus on discovering exactly what it was that they loved & figuring out how to start doing just that. 

The beauty of it is that most of their paths traveled in directions they never would have gone if they hadn't been laid off & because of that, they harbor no guilt about having been laid off and have no regrets about their lemonade: the direction their personal & professional lives have taken as a result.  

Cherishing the precious extra moments I have with my family during this period, volunteering, networking, strengthening personal relationships & blogging are truly steps in the right direction. Having that sense of certainty and knowing that I'm already doing what I love is a phase I would be thrilled to find myself in now, however, as of right now, it's still a work in process.