Reinventing Me

Sometimes, if one is very fortunate, an opportunity arises to reinvent oneself.

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Moving to another town, enrolling in a different school, undertaking new employment, joining a club or group, all of these open the door to a potential new you. None of these strangers know you're a whiner, or bad-tempered, or bossy. Here is a clean slate where whining, tantrums, and bossing - everything you don't like about yourself or your character - are erased away. You can present yourself as an appreciative, calm, cooperative paragon of excellent behavior.

Okay, it isn't that easy to accomplish.

Our bad habits, annoying ways, and sinful natures aren't discarded quite so easily, but a fresh beginning with people who don't know us is a wonderful occasion to try and evolve into the person we've always wanted to be; a person slowly being transformed into the image of Christ.

I have arrived at this juncture several times in the past, but never had the good sense to take advantage of my new beginnings. Fortunately, two additional reinvention occasions have arisen. My husband and I have been looking for a new church for over a year. While visiting churches and meeting new people, I have been able to present the best Me that I can. The mind and nature of Christ that I often pray to be manifest in me has a chance to see daylight. No one knows the old me.

Starting a new job last week has afforded me the same opportunity. I can be the type of employee that Jesus would want me to be. My character and nature are as yet unknown to my employer and coworkers. I can be whoever I want to be. And what better role model than Jesus?

Raise a glass (of iced tea, naturally) to transitions and new beginnings, and the chance to reinvent yourself.

What's Time Worth?

I said, "Adios," a couple of weeks ago to a part-part-time job I held for six years.  Part-part was not a typing error.  I shared the job with two other women and we rotated the job among us every three months, one month on, two months off.

That doesn't make sense, you might think, knowing that I am actually planning on working more now that #3 son will be graduating homeschool next week and be off to college soon.

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The reason for my unplanned and somewhat impetuous resignation was due to time. The job description was recently and drastically changed with increased hours and responsibilities, but no increase in wages.

Not a big issue when the job was only a few hours a week and I viewed it as a way to earn a little extra cash, but suddenly a very big deal when I was now required to re-apply for the job, fill out a multi-page employment application, find a notary to witness something (I don't know what, I didn't read that far), jump through some other hoops (nine in all) and take a drug test.  A drug test?  For a part-part-time job I accomplish in my home?  That I have already performed for six years?  And I am expected to do all this on my own time without being paid?

That's why I said I quit because of time.

What value does your time have to you?

I realized that this job was not one I particularly enjoyed nor was it in line with some tentative goals I have.  Realistically, the time it would take to accomplish the work would be better used working toward long-term plans.

Even though this means a loss of income for a while, I think using my time to take steps to achieve other ambitions is worth it to me.

With every decision we make, we need to count the cost not only in terms of time and money, but satisfaction, peace of mind and fulfillment.  So, what is your time worth to you?

S is for Support

No matter what kind of transition we're dealing with, and there are many both good and bad, it helps to have a support network.

Planning a move?  Having a baby?  Deciding what college to attend?  Are you an aspiring author?  Becoming a step parent?  Has someone you love died?  We all need support.

If you are going through a transition, here is a short list of support suggestions. Not all of them will be applicable for every situation.

• Find someone to talk to.  A shared burden always feels a little lighter. 
• Ask for help, don't be afraid, don't feel ashamed.
• Let people know specifically what you need.  Others aren't always aware of what type of help would benefit you most.
• Go online.  Depending what your transition is, the information you need to make the best decision may be a Google search away and you just might find a forum full of experts to consult or a great online group to join.
• Get help from a professional.  I don't just mean spiritual or medical help, but hire a home organizer if you need to whip your house into shape in order to sell it.
• Look for a support group in your area.  Do you have a special needs child, an alcoholic parent, a physical handicap?  There are support groups available for all these situations and more.
• Reciprocate.  If you know others facing a change or challenge similar to yours, perhaps looking for a job, help each other by exchanging job tips and networking information or reviewing each others resumes.

You don't have to fight your battles, move your mountains or swim upstream alone.  Look for support and in turn, when you are able, provide support for others.

What suggestions would you add to the list?

Blogging A to Z Challenge, the letter S        

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Dream, dream, dream

I wrote a post about job hunting last month that generated some interesting comments.  One of my suggestions was for job searchers to dream about what their perfect or dream job would be.  That really seemed to strike a chord with readers.  Since I don't have a mega-blog this was obviously just a small sampling of people, but of all the different ideas I shared in that post, the idea of a dream job was what resonated for most readers.

It was also surprising to find out that so many people want to work from home. In a country where getting ahead and being a "success" are emphasized, I was amazed by the number of people who don't want to be in the rat race.

For other people, their dream had already come true.  They had their dream job.  I felt so happy for them and was glad that they realized they were "living the dream".

Generally, I don't think we dream enough, or at least I don't dream enough.  I get stuck in the necessary, in the needful and forget there could be something wonderful just around the corner.   So much has to be accomplished in a day.  Money has to be earned, bills paid, food purchased and cooked, children educated, house cleaned and maintained, and this is just the short list.  It's easy to forget to dream.  Easy to forget to dream about the future and dream about how we'd like our lives to be.

My springtime challenge (there's that word again) to you and to me is to dream.  What would we like to be different about our lives?  What would we like to change?  How can we make it happen?

What's your dream?

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Meeting the Challenge

Day 3 of the Blogging From A to Z Challenge gives me the perfect word to write about today, Challenge.

I don't know anyone who is not facing a challenge.

Some of those challenges are internal such as struggling with feeling unappreciated, anxiety, self-doubt, grief or anger.  Other people's challenges are external.  Maybe they're dealing with an estranged relationship, serious illness, financial problems, or employment needs.  Whatever form our challenges take, we all have them.

One of the hardest things about dealing with our challenges can be the feeling of powerlessness we experience.  Some of our challenges occur not because of choices we've made or something we've done.  They occur because of circumstances beyond our control.  For example, if we're involved in a car accident caused by someone else and now have months of rehabilitation ahead, it is going to be a challenge on many levels.  We didn't choose to have this happen, nothing we did caused it, but now we have to deal with the repercussions.

That feeling of powerlessness can lead to feelings of anger, discouragement or helplessness.  But we can't let ourselves go down under the waves of these feelings and drown.

No matter what challenge we're currently facing, a support group or support person can be our lifeline.  Having an advocate, a listening ear or someone to physically help us can make the challenge seem more bearable.

As a Christian, I know I always have someone ready to listen when I feel overwhelmed and someone to take on my challenge and help me walk through it.  I've been a Christian for a long time and know that living for God  does not come with a "Get out of jail free" card.  I face as many and as difficult challenges as anyone else.  But I have a support system that can't be beat.  I might feel like I'm sinking, but I'll never drown, no matter what.

Are you facing any challenges that just seem impossible to deal with?  Write and share.  I'd be happy to pray for you.

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Pick Me! Pick Me!

So here you are, a brand new college graduate,  brilliant person stuck in a dull job, young mom looking for part-time work, retiree hoping for a challenge,  unemployed and desperate, or like me, a woman who will be graduating her last homeschooler and is considering re-entering the job market after a looong time away.

This isn't the best job market we could wish for.  There are lots of people out there with skills as good as or better than ours.  So what is it about us that makes us shine, that makes us the best possible choice for a job?  How do we even start this process?

Like many life transitions, a job search requires  a lot of work, thought, some help and, my favorite thing, a plan.  Here's how we can begin.

• Our first step is to take a personal inventory.  What actual skills and abilities do we have?  This doesn't mean paid employment.  The question is, what do I really know how to do?  Am I an excellent swimmer and diver, am I multi-lingual, do I know how to landscape?  It might be helpful to make a list of every talent and ability you possess and then ask people close to you what abilities they think you have.

• Next, we should list jobs we've held in the past and try to recall every task and responsibility we had  in those positions, what skills we gained, what our job description was and any special projects we completed.  Did we ever have any of our suggestions implemented?  Did we add any extra value to that position, bring more business to our company, design a new way of doing something?

• We haven't necessarily been paid for all of our work experience.  So what types of volunteer work or internships have we held?  Treat these like paid jobs and again list everything just  like you did in the step above.

• Now, looking at all of our work and volunteer experience, let's assess what we are qualified to do.   I came across a helpful article by Wendy Boswell on About.com called The Top Eight Job Search Engines on the Web.  As the article states, it lists the most used job search engines and includes descriptions about each one and the services that each provides.  The search engines list jobs by professions or categories.  So start looking at the fields you believe you're most qualified for and see if your skills match up with currently available jobs.

 We're feeling a little more confident now because we have our long list of skills and abilities and we have looked at job search engines and have, hopefully, found some jobs we could apply for.  But let's have a dream moment.  What have we always really wanted to do but have never pursued?  What's our dream job?  It's our moment to temporarily throw away practicality and imagine that perfect job.  

Is it really possible for us to be hired for our dream job?  Let's consider what we can do versus what we would like to do.  Maybe this is the big push we've always needed to pursue our dream.  In order to make the dream happen we have to be honest with ourselves.

• Do we have the necessary qualifications for that kind of work? 
• Do we have to take classes or get special training and would that be feasible based on our current needs and life situation? 
• If we have years of accounting experience, but our true passion is horses, what types of jobs are available that would allow us to work with horses and what kind of training do we need?
• Are we willing or able to make the sacrifices to make our dream  job a reality?  Our biggest concern might be the need to put food on the table, so dreaming of being a rodeo clown might not be possible.  Not right now anyway, but maybe when we do get the bread and butter job we need, we can take whatever is the first step to making our dream job our real job.

Just a few more things we need to think about with any kind of job search.

Are we willing to re-locate?  Some areas just have more jobs available than others and we might have to consider moving.

Also, who do we know that might be able to help us find work, neighbors, co-workers, Facebook friends?  Most of us know a lot of people and we shouldn't be shy about letting them know we are looking for a job.  This is still one of the most popular ways people obtain jobs.

There is so much more to explore about job searches, such as what salary we can expect, self-employment and free-lance work, and generating multiple sources of income.  All topics for future blog posts.

Are you looking for a job?  What steps are you taking?  What would be your dream job?

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