Well it has been nearly a year since I last wrote on this blog and that is because I spend most of my free moments on the computer on Face Book. However I could not give up this space. I feel like there is a reason I have it...not sure exactly what it is but I think maybe it is coming to me.
They say a lot can happen in a year and it is amazing how much can...if you want it to or even if you don't want it to. But sometimes those unwanted changes are life's way of telling us to lift our wings and fly because we might be stuck someplace we hadn't realized we had been stuck until something forced us to simply MOVE.
Last May I decided to give up the job I dearly loved at Menlo Park Health Care to pursue an opportunity that presented itself to me as the GOLDEN EGG with all the bells and whistles a gal could want...it seemed to be a DREAM JOB and within less than a week of applying I had had two interviews and an offer with better pay and better benefits or so I thought... So I decided to pack up everything that was COMFORTABLE to me and take a risk and go for it. The package was not as GOLDEN as I thought, I took home the same amount of $ though I made more ( I went from hourly pay to salary, and my benefits that I had been paying for out of pocket at Menlo were indeed paid for but I didn't realize I was giving up a really great insurance plan for a DEDUCTABLE plan that would cost me more in the long run) and I gave up a 4 mile commute that took less than 10 minutes to get to work, for an hour long commute across town on public transportation or I could drive across town and pay $55 a month to park and walk 1/2 mile one way to my building. Then after giving all this up to take this DREAM job and beginning to find myself a new home at my new job and just learning their new system I was terminated two days prior to my probation being up. Needless to say I was DEVASTATED.
I am not sorry I took the risk..because typically I am not much of a risk taker and I honestly hadn't ever thought about losing my new job. I am learning many wonderful lessons about me and people and LIFE. I am not the type of person that goes into a relationship and says "If we break-up"....nor do I start a new job with the mind set of "If I get fired...." When I start anything I am the type of person that goes in both feet firmly planted on the ground! I am trusting by nature and I appreciate those traits about myself.
I know I LOVE working with the Elderly population and that this is truly where I am in my element and I love the lessons and gifts I get from this population through their Grace, Wisdom and Life Experiences. I continue to return and visit many of my residents at Menlo Park to this day because they hold such a sweet spot in my heart.
During my time off from work, when I am not job hunting, I am trying to use this time as a GIFT and note waste any of it. I have been cleaning and purging and organizing my house one room at a time. I have been meeting and re-connecting with old friends I haven't seen in years. I have been taking classes and working on my creative outlets and have learned how to fuse glass and have been working on my new love of knitting and now take my latest project with me whever I go. I have started therapy to do some inner house clearing and work on myself and I am back to focusing on my physical health and weight loss goals again. I am enrolled in an awesome BACK ON TRACK support class at Kaiser for people who have had Bariactric Weight Loss surgery. Through all the stress of the past several months and changes..I neglected myself and resorted to old unhealthy eating habits and had gained about 10 pounds back and could see I was headed in the WRONG WRONG WRONG direction and needed to GET BACK ON TRACK!! This class just happened to come at the right time, I started exercising again and just completed walking my first HALF MARATHON. A goal I am mentally and physically VERY PROUD of. I have already lost 3 pounds in the two weeks since the class started and I am feeling great about my new re-directed focus towards HEALTH again.
I am feeling my wings fluttering and loving flying again. I have a job interview on Halloween morning for a job I would LOVE to have becasue I can totally see myself doing the work and offering them what I know I do best. I will keep you posted on the outcome of that.
I am trying to remain upbeat about the sunshine going away and the darker days ahead as fall and then winter approaches...I have a hard time with the gray dark days, it is not so good for my spirit and depression sometimes hovers, but I am determined to do what I can to bring light into my life in all the many wonderful ways I can. I am blessed with wonderful family and friends.
Hope you have a wonderful Halloween and may the many bright Spirits in your life be touched on Day of the Dead.
