Ch-ch-changes
My company announced last September that they're going to eliminate some 5,000 positions. So for a few months now, I've known that things were about to get weird. As a learning and development consultant, I have a target on my back. After all, I work for a scientific kind of company, but I'm not a scientist.
This week I learned that my job (and that of nine of my colleagues) officially "goes away" as of the end of February. There will be new jobs we can post for, but we don't yet know what those jobs are or if we'll be qualified. If we don't get one of the new jobs, maybe there will be some other options, but we don't know anything more at this point. The future is . . . uncertain.
Since hearing the news, I've been up and I've been down. I'm up because I strongly believe that when God closes a door, He opens a window. There are so many other possibilities out there. Take writing, for example. Last year, I did something I've wanted to do for years. I wrote a book! I loved the entire process, from start to finish . . . and I have so many more ideas. I'd really like to write more! And farming . . . well, I've been thinking for several years now that I'd like to get back to the land. I love the idea of local food, and growing things organically and sustainably. IMHO, we all need to get a little closer to our food. So maybe I'll become a writer, or gentlewoman farmer, or both? Maybe I could become . . . the female Wendell Berry?!!
But I'm down because I've spent ten years here in this city and with this company. Over the years, I've worked with some great people and developed some really good relationships with people all around the world. I consider many of my co-workers to be friends. I've "traveled" along with many of them through several of life's major milestones: marriages, births, illnesses, divorces, deaths. They've taught me not just about the business, but the business of living.
For me, this job has always been more about the people than anything else. It's because of the people that I've enjoyed it so much, and that I've kept going, even when the non-people aspects of the job were not so fun. And if it ends, it will be the people I will miss the most.
To be continued . . . I'm sure this will be a major blog theme over the next few weeks and months!
This week I learned that my job (and that of nine of my colleagues) officially "goes away" as of the end of February. There will be new jobs we can post for, but we don't yet know what those jobs are or if we'll be qualified. If we don't get one of the new jobs, maybe there will be some other options, but we don't know anything more at this point. The future is . . . uncertain.
Since hearing the news, I've been up and I've been down. I'm up because I strongly believe that when God closes a door, He opens a window. There are so many other possibilities out there. Take writing, for example. Last year, I did something I've wanted to do for years. I wrote a book! I loved the entire process, from start to finish . . . and I have so many more ideas. I'd really like to write more! And farming . . . well, I've been thinking for several years now that I'd like to get back to the land. I love the idea of local food, and growing things organically and sustainably. IMHO, we all need to get a little closer to our food. So maybe I'll become a writer, or gentlewoman farmer, or both? Maybe I could become . . . the female Wendell Berry?!!
But I'm down because I've spent ten years here in this city and with this company. Over the years, I've worked with some great people and developed some really good relationships with people all around the world. I consider many of my co-workers to be friends. I've "traveled" along with many of them through several of life's major milestones: marriages, births, illnesses, divorces, deaths. They've taught me not just about the business, but the business of living.
For me, this job has always been more about the people than anything else. It's because of the people that I've enjoyed it so much, and that I've kept going, even when the non-people aspects of the job were not so fun. And if it ends, it will be the people I will miss the most.
To be continued . . . I'm sure this will be a major blog theme over the next few weeks and months!
