Achievement Unlocked: Back to Work and Getting My Shit Together

I never thought that work would have such an impact on my life. As it turns out, it did have a huge impact, and getting hired has relieved me of the uncertainty that was causing a lot of stress in my life. Not to mention injected a booster shot of confidence in myself and my abilities. Basically I feel like a fucking adult.

Funny story about this job. I applied for the position on a lark. Looking for work in this job market can be a soul sucking experience. I follow one guy on twitter who has been job hunting since being let go from his previous job (sounds familiar) and the struggle continues as he works another job just to make ends meet while he looks for a permanent position in his chosen field.

I was at a cross roads. I didn’t really know if I had a chosen field. I have been pigeonholed into customer service positions of one type or another since the divorce. It must be a sign that I’m not meant to do something else because three times my efforts to gain experience or training in a different field (IT) have been blocked by obstacles and delays.

Each and every time something would happen making it impossible for me to pursue that as an option. Even this time when I was in between jobs and I tried to get into this training/internship job placement program, I didn’t hear back from the recruiter until a week AFTER I had accepted the job offer for the position I have now. It’s like, okay, I get it. It’s not for me.

So while I was waiting, hoping to hear back from that place, I kept applying. It was also the ridiculous requirement for receiving the pittance of my unemployment to keep applying for jobs and looking for work.

When they called me to interview, I was in bed and half asleep. I honestly thought that they had hired someone else because I had to reschedule on real short notice since I had to make an emergency trip to the 7th level of hell known also as the Dept of Public Safety to get my son a replacement driving permit. Good lord that was a waste of time.

So I’m sleeping, the phone rings and it all comes back to me that I’m scheduled for a phone interview. I didn’t dial it in. I did sit up in bed and tried to give actual answers to the questions, but I didn’t stress myself out about it.

Honestly I didn’t think I’d be taking the job particularly because I had no idea what the job entailed. The phone interview led to an in-person interview, and one thing led to another and now I’m hired and working and just passed the two-month anniversary.

I have more motivation for my life outside of work. I am on the go so much at work that I have a greater appreciation for my down time and spend 50% relaxing and the other 50% working on myself. It’s a great side effect that I certainly did not see coming.

I thought for sure it would be like my other jobs where I would be so drained when I got home that the last thing I wanted to do was yet another thing, and it spiraled into general disarray which just triggered my depression. It was a vicious cycle.

I know this is going to come out sounding hella cheesy and after-school special-ish, but my greatest achievement is being a good role model for my sons.

It was hard to do before and they called me on it all the time when I would ask them to do something for themselves, and they would Bender it back with “What about you, Mom?” so, yeah. It’s nice to know that I’ve shut down that argument because, hey… I am doing it.