Update: The New Job

Earlier this month marked six months at my not-so-new-anymore job.

To say the last six months have been a blessing would be a huge understatement. Never in my life have I felt more fulfilled, more challenged, more inspired, more motivated, more capable than I do at work. And really, I can't decide if these past months have dragged on at a snail's pace or if they have flown so fast I can hardly stop my head from spinning. It's a toss up.

I pinch myself every single day, and I wake up thinking, "Yes! I get to go to work today!" Still! After six months! It hasn't all been a cake walk, I assure you, but not a day goes by that I don't think about how lucky I truly am. I have found a job that is seriously PERFECT for me at a company that truly values their employees.

 

Not only that, but I'm good at my job! It's unbelievable! I always knew I was good at nannying and being a personal assistant. I was so good that I started my own company doing that! When I started working in Marketing, I always felt like I was second-guessing myself. Part of that was the work environment (small start-up company) and part of that is that I wasn't working in an area that really catered to my strengths. I was okay at Marketing, and I liked it okay, but I always craved more contact with people.

Guess what? My WHOLE JOB now involves working with people. I get 100+ emails per day. I probably send even more. I walk around the office and chat with people because it's part of my job! We had an all staff meeting last week and I knew every single person that walked in the door, and they knew me! All 150+ of them! Ya'll, I'm happier than a little clam at high tide.

I'm not writing this to brag. I'm writing this because it took me almost two years after I graduated from college to find a job that I even liked, let alone loved. Plus, if I'm being honest, I am really proud of how far I have come. When I graduated in December 2008, I promised myself I woudn't settle. I didn't take any of what seemed like millions of door-to-door sales opportunities that "fell into my lap" despite my dad's encouraging. I cried so many tears about job-searching. I had more disappointments than I think is fair, and I hated myself all the time. I felt like a giant failure for not being able to find a job and I was convinced my parents hated me. But still, I held out, waiting for my dream job - the one I could turn into a career. And I found it (or I guess maybe it found me?) finally. And now? I'm six months of job-stresss-crying free and it feels great!

To those of you just graduating college, or still searching for that first job, or searching for what feels like your nineteenth job, keep looking. Don't give up! It may not be the first job you get, or the second, or the third, but that job of a lifetime is out there, just like it was for me.


Georgia Tech graduation, December 2008

It's funny, when I applied for my current job, I had never heard of the company, I had no idea what a consulting firm really did...I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. And now, six months later, I still don't really know what a consultant really does even though I work with them all the dang time. I do know what I have gotten myself into though, and it's AWESOME.

I've written a lot over the last six months about how lucky I am, and it's not just how many shows I can win tickets to or burgerfests I can attend. I had a bunch of words written about big men in the sky and walking a journey together, and those words just aren't me. I'm really not very good at talking about my faith. That's another post for another day. I just know I'm lucky, I know who to thank for it, and that's enough for me for now.