A month ago I was given the chance to take on a new opportunity, something I had thought about over and over again for years, but could never bring myself to carry through with. Being let go from my job could potentially be one of the best things to happen to me. I could never allow myself to voluntarily quit, but when they asked me to leave, I had no choice but to rethink my career direction.
For some time I have been considering how to put together my talents and allow myself to move in a new direction. What am I good at? What do I like to do? How do these things mesh together? I am still working on the exact answers to these questions, but I have a better idea now than I did previously, when I was simply focused on the thing that I had been doing for almost 20 years.
Haley Williams is quoted as saying, "Sometimes it takes a good fall to really know where you stand." I truly believe this. As much as we think we know or understand ourselves, sometimes once we take a fall (and we WILL fall, because we all do) we come to realize that what we had thought of ourselves is not necessarily true. We may not be as strong as we thought, or maybe we're stronger than we imagined. Either way, we can learn to adapt to these new boundaries and adjust accordingly.
I think people are afraid (or at least reluctant) of change. Especially big change. So when changes in direction are thrust at us, we tend to recoil and resist. As always, with change comes growth. Once we can get past the reluctance and embrace new patterns, our eyes are opened to things we never would have thought of otherwise. We learn new things, we challenge ourselves, we adapt, we grow.
When I was in that last meeting with my supervisor, I was mad. Boiling mad. Red hot, can't speak, wanna punch a wall mad. But in my head, all I could see was a set of large doors, opening wide. Sometimes opportunities are subtle. Sometimes the sirens blare. That day, the lights were flashing and the sirens were louder than I had ever heard before. Change was being forced onto me, and I was resisting, but there was also a new opportunity waiting for me with open arms.
No matter how horrible a new direction may seem to us at first, I'm a firm believer that every now and then we have to step off the beaten path. Take the road less traveled. Do something completely out of your realm. Be crazy (reasonably, of course). Take the unexpected and run with it. This is how we grow. We never know what we will find in a new place, unless we go there.
:) :)
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