“You can’t reject the life preserver God has thrown you because you don’t like its color or shape. It may be just the thing you need to bring you back above water.”
I took a brief (unintentional) hiatus from writing and I miss it. You may have noticed a change in the name of the blog from Laid off. Now what? —> Employed. Now what? The name seemed appropriate and I imagine that it will continue to change as I, and this blog, evolve. I am celebrating my one month anniversary in the land of employment and couldn’t he happier. This place is very different than my life in consulting. I have balanced hours, the work is interesting, I’m learning a ton about a new industry, the people are great and the culture is unique. A few months ago, I remember posting a status on Facebook that read: “Looking forward to the day when I have a job that I am excited to wake up for”, well I got it. I can’t explain how comfortable I feel at work even though everything is so new. What this makes me realize is how on edge I was at my last job trying to be something I wasn’t. For the first time, I am able to be the same person at work, that I am at home because they care more about me being authentic than fitting into a cookie-cutter mold. I didn’t believe it 100% at first so I asked a few questions to confirm.
Friday, I had my first 1:1 meeting with my Director and asked her, “Why did you hire me?”. I wanted to know what she saw in me and if I had done a good job communicating who I was and what I wanted in the interview. She gave me a very thorough answer that included the following: “You are introspective and slow to respond, which will be a good balance for the more expressive people on our team”. After she said this, I knew that she understood who I was and wanted me to be that person. And so far that has proven to be true.
The people at the company are great and I feel like I’m becoming a part of a supportive learning environment. Today I was out with a friend walking around taking pictures and I heard a guy call my name as he was walking by. It turned out to be a Director from a different group, who I had met with earlier in the week. He stopped and we chatted for a while. When he left, my friend commented that he remembered my name. We’d only met briefly and he’d remembered my name. This sounds simple, but it was a good feeling that brings my one month of employment full circle.
The quote above is one I made up (I think) to convey how deceitful packaging can be. Sometimes we’re so blinded by the packaging, that we never consider the gift inside the packaging. I hemmed and hawed for about a month over whether or not to accept this job because I had a vision for what my next job would look like. I tried to find things that were wrong with it so I’d have reason not to accept it. I was blinded by the packaging. The gift inside turned out to be so much more than I could have asked for. All I needed to do what get out of my own way and open the box.