The Next Chapter

I made the decision to leave my job! This is huge yall…I have been working for the same company doing pretty much the same thing for the last 8 years. The majority of that time, I loved what I did, but about 2-3 years ago, I started to get burned out. I sucked it up and kept on working mainly because this girl needs to have an income and because I loved the income that I had established over the years. No matter how much I shook that feeling off me, it kept returning and true to form, I kept ignoring it.

Back in July 2011 my manager resigned from his position…I LOVED this guy and hated to see him step down. He was by far the best manager that I have ever had. A new manager was brought in and everything went ok for the first few months with this new lady, but by January of this year, the shit hit the fan and she had the gall to write me up for some bullshit which I opposed vehemently and she and I along with the branch president were able to reach an amicable solution. If I tell you 60 days to the day, this broad came at me again with a write up on some more bullshit. Now mind you, I have worked here for years and have never been reprimanded in any way. All of my performance reviews have been stellar…this broad just wanted to start some shit with me. Again, I end up involving the branch president and this time had to pull in an attorney and get corporate HR involved. At this point, my blood was boiling and I was ready to get up and just walk out the door, without a two week notice or anything….but I didn’t. I issued my resignation 2 weeks ago.

What I realized and finally accepted was that my time; my season was up in this current role. I kept forcing myself into a mold that was no longer made for me. The nudging that I began to feel 2 years ago was a gentle push from God, letting me know that it was time to move on, but instead of taking heed to that nudge. I ignored it and ended up in these precarious work situations. The new manager was the catalyst that God used to put the fire under me that I needed to get up and move (SIDE NOTE: the new manager resigned and accepted a lesser position right after I made the decision to leave—talk about a catalyst). I would probably never have left my job at this point if it were not for her. It’s impossible to grow and be happy in a pair of shoes that are too small and that’s what I was doing. A week after I issued my resignation, I saw this on pinterest and it resonated deeply with me:

So yeah, this is the new chapter…this girl has finally turned the page. What will I do now? I have no clue as of yet. My desire is to stay as far away from corporate America as possible. I have been blessed to work in some of the largest companies in the United States and all of my experiences have been rewarding, however my heart is telling me to develop some of the ideas that I have let lay dormant over the years and I would love to spend some time mentoring young people who have lost their parents as I was one of those that lost her parents at a very young age. I honestly feel that I would be totally fine if I never went back to corporate America. The stress, the politics and the all-around general BS that you have to put up with is just not worth it to me anymore. I am willing to adjust my lifestyle to fit my new income level…and what’s funny is that a year ago I made the pledge to get outta credit card debt and I paid off my last credit card right after Christmas. All of these signs pointed me to the door of my old job…it was just time to change courses. It’s amazing how God will lead you even when we have no clue what’s going on.

Today is my 3rd day of freedom and as strange as it may sound, I am happier now than I have been in a long time. I look forward to new opportunities and just the general excitement of what comes along with this new chapter of my life.

Does Everything Happen for a Reason

There is purpose in everything…therefore in my world, everything happens for a reason. Life is not a haphazard maze that we wander aimlessly through, but an intricately designed path that was created for the purpose of our growth and development as human beings. Our job i.e. purpose in life is to travel our life’s path with meaning and purpose; always looking for the silver lining. There will be bumps, hills, holes and oftentimes a lot of bullshit that we have to deal with, but in the end we learn that these obstacles were there to mold us into our ultimate selves. *Just my two cents*

Ligthen the Mood

Magnificent Monday everyone. I have been away from the blog for a few weeks with the holidays and all and then I came back with this dark posting which I see kinda threw folks for a loop. Let me just say all is well with me…the posting was what I was thinking and feeling at the time. I am not in a dark place; I was more in a dark mood and that’s what came out when I put fingers to keyboard. So rest assured all is well with AquariusSoul. I appreciate everyone’s comments and concerns. Now we shall return to our regularly scheduled programming!

The Rules of Being Human

You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for as long as you live.  How you take care of it or fail to take care of it can make an enormous difference in the quality of your life.

You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time, informal school called Life.  Each day, you will be presented with opportunities to learn what you need to know.  The lessons presented are often completely different from those you think you need.

There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error and experimentation.  You can learn as much from failure as you can from success. Maybe more.

A lesson is repeated until it is learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it.  When you have learned it (as evidenced by a change in your attitude and ultimately your behavior) then you can go on to the next lesson.

Learning lessons does not end. There is no stage of life that does not contain some lessons.  As long as you live there will be something more to learn.

“There” is no better than “here”. When your “there” has become a “here” you will simply discover another “there” that will again look better than your “here.” Don’t be fooled by believing that the unattainable is better than what you have.

Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.  When tempted to criticize others, ask yourself why you feel so strongly.

What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need.  What you create with those tools and resources is up to you.  Remember that through desire, goal setting and unflagging effort you can have anything you want. Persistence is the key to success.

The answers lie inside of you. The solutions to all of life’s problems lie within your grasp.  All you need to do is ask, look, listen and trust yourself.

Rainy Wednesday Reflections

It’s raining in my town today and I am sitting at work doing a whole lot of nothing. I got to thinking about 2010 and how things have changed so much…some for good and some, not so good. All in all, everything happens to us for a reason. Life’s lessons are taught in order for us to grow and progress. There is nothing that we encounter  that is for naught. I guess our daily task is to cipher through our experiences and learn from them.

My Life Lessons:

• I’ve learned that no matter how much I care some people just don’t care back.
• I’ve learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.
• I’ve learned that it’s not what you have in your life, but whom you have in your life that counts.
• I’ve learned that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
• I’ve learned that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
• I’ve learned that either you control your attitude or it controls you.
• I’ve learned that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.
• I’ve learned that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

What are your life lessons?