Things are looking up!!

So, I officially finished my first FULL week of work at the new job!!  Yes, I know that I started working there at the end of December, but my first week I only worked 3 days.  The next week was a short week as well, having New Year’s Day off.  So this past week was the first time in four months that I went to an office and put in a full day’s work (and overtime) for five days in a row!! 

Next week is a short week as well with Martin Luther King Jr. day! So I lucked out and have a 3-day weekend following the first full week!  I probably still may need to log in from home to do some work on Monday, though. You see, even though I’m new to this job, I’m not new to this type of work.  So they threw me right in, full speed, head first!  I already have deadlines looming!  Talk about hitting the ground running!

But I have to say … it feels GREAT to be back in the mix!!

Now that I’m back in the real world, I realize just how depressing the past four months really were.  You see, not only did I lose the job, but my “romantic” life had hit a bump in the road right about the same time that I left my last job.  Yup, double whammy.

But, I now realize that losing both the job and the guy were actually the best things that could have happened. And, although I wasn’t very happy at the time, I’m so much better off and happier now! 

While my last job was less “deadline” driven than this new one, and while I wasn't unhappy there, it definitely had its own stresses. Even just the basics of having my own work space now makes this job so much better! In the last job, the way the office was set up was very “open office, common space” concept. While this may be great for a start-up, promoting communication and creativity, for the job I have, it was very difficult to concentrate!  Also, having a full-blown cubicle, rather than just a partition separating me from the person next to me at this one REALLY long desk makes me feel as though I’m valued more.

There are lots of other nice perks at this new job too. Like the Wednesday afternoon snack of veggies, hummus and dips and the Friday morning bagels and spreads. The AMAZING views from the office will probably never cease to take my breath. And the technology at this company far surpasses what we dealt with at my last job.

All these little things, and more, make me realize that although I was sad that my position at my old job was being phased out, it was actually a blessing in disguise.

As for the romantic area of my life … that too is a lot better now than it was back then. It took some time (maybe too much time, actually) but I now realize that where I had been, and what I was getting out of that area of my life (or wasn’t getting), well, it just wasn’t the best place for me. I was selling myself short. I talked myself into accepting less than I deserved. A LOT less! 

I realize now that being treated with respect, that knowing someone is excited about getting to know everything about me, and actually allowing me to get to know everything about him … that is what I should have had to begin with.  And it’s what I will always make sure I have going forward with all my interpersonal relationships. I won’t accept anyone into my life who doesn’t have it within themselves to provide this for me.

So, all these changes, while they weren’t ones I actively chose for myself, were actually the best things that could have happened to me.  That old adage of “When one door closes, a window opens” or whatever version of that saying you’ve heard, is absolutely true!

To look at it another way … yeah, it might seem like you are “losing” when negative things like job loss or other types of endings happen to you.  But while things that may seem like negatives at the time, just hold on.  Because those endings allow for positive things to fill the spaces left behind.