Friday Upheaval

My morning at home started just fine and today when I got to work I found out that my boss resigned and I went through a gamut of emotions. I went from fine, to shocked, to mad, and now I am sad. I know that life is short and things have an order but this particular move came out of left field. Yesterday we were planning for his next trip and today there will be no more trips.

What really gets to me was just how much I’ve grown to care for him in the past two years. We had a great relationship and I have the highest level of respect for him as my boss and as a person. I know this had to have been a tough decision for him and so I don’t take it lightly that he felt the need to leave. I wish him the best in his new job.

What I am going to miss the most is that he wasn’t really a boss to me as much as he was a mentor, a role model and a champion for me. He pushed me to think and look outside the box and when I tried to limit myself he always gave me a nudge to keep it going. He believed that I could go back to school and do well and so he took the financial hit on his bottom line to support me in that endeavor and he was very much interested in my grades and how well I was doing.

Work/life balance was important to him and he pursued it and made sure I did as well. Not many bosses have that mindset. I was spoiled and somehow I don’t think I will get that this next go round but I could be wrong.

This just might be another turn in the road from God to get me stirred up and on the right path.

The next few weeks will be interesting ones and I look forward to what they will bring.

Coming out

I've outed myself to a fellow co-worker who shares my love for the written word. She has a couple of blogs herself that I've enjoyed reading. I appreciate her style of writing, her candor and her honesty which is why I was drawn to her at work. She's a bright spot in my day, a breath of fresh air and a wealth of information, which she is quick to share.

Our worlds are complete opposites but that could also explain the attraction. I get to view it from her perspective and vice versa. Although I believe I will get far more entertainment out of her world than she will from mine.

It felt good to talk to her about blogging, writing, our lives outside of work because at the end of the day when we leave our jobs we do have lives. We are not consumed by this 24/7. We don't eat, sleep and breathe work. In our roles as assistant's too often we work for and with people who's entire existence is wrapped up in their jobs. They cannot function without them. It has become who they are. Their jobs/positions are their identity. You know these people, they are the ones who introduce themselves with their titles and all of their conversations revolve around things they are doing for work.

I'm excited to have another connection in my other life that is walking down a similar path as I. Although a bit different. She's writing a novel. A HUGE undertaking; one that frightens me. I'm not ready for that just yet. I appreciate the blogging world too much with it's fluidness. A novel to me is constraining and we all know I am not one to be constrained. I don't think I have it in me to be that focused right now. I'm saving that for retirement.

Welcome to my world Leila.

The Job

I am in a new job, surrounded by new people who don’t know me or my capabilities. At times it is a little unsettling. This job is a step up but also a step back at the same time and that has also left me at a loss. I remember asking for a job that gave me more money but less work and God blessed me with that, but I am miserable.

I have two of the greatest bosses in the world but my work load is almost nil in comparison to what I have been used to. I have gone from supporting 8 or 9 people to supporting two. As the new kid on the block, there are not a lot of places for me to go and get more work until people get used to me and are made more aware of my skills. I have tried to hawk my services all over the floor and the response has been sparse. This is someone’s dream come true but certainly not mine.

In the past, I have always been the Queen B at work with my hands in lots of pots but that is not the case here. Although my bosses are head of 4 key divisions within our organization we are structured so that this truly is corporate headquarters and we push the papers but the plants do the work. With what little paperwork they do generate I can only push it around a certain number of times before I have to put it away and then what?

I also believe in an honest days work for my money so sitting and reading books or surfing the web are not an option. So what is a girl to do besides looking out the window at the river and watching the hands on the clock tick by?

Flash forward to this past week -- I found our training site. I'm now taking classes from the company's elearning website which makes the time go faster and I don't feel guilty about learning new things that will enhance my abilities at work and beyond.

I've learned a couple of lessons with this job. First, be careful what you ask for because you just might get it!!! Second, God truly is in control and has a plan. You just have to be patient and let Him reveal it in his own way and in His own time. And finally, there is more than one way to look at things. What may not look like a blessing could truly be one if you just look beyond what you're used to. I believe we call it "thinking outside the box."