There is not one experience, no matter how devastating, no matter how torturous it may appear to have been, there is nothing that’s ever wasted. Everything that is happening to you is being drawn into your life as a means to help you evolve into who you were really meant to be here on Earth. It’s not the thing that matters, it’s what that thing opens within you. – Oprah
Journal Entry
The $65.00 tractor sprinkler that I bought last summer is broken and I don’t know what lesson I’m supposed to learn from this. I’m home alone for a week, so there’s no one to perform tractor sprinkler surgery and it’s rusted to the hose, so there’s no way to swap it out for a) a different sprinkler or b) me to water my entire quarter acre backyard by hand. Maybe this is a reminder that it’s been a little while since I called my dad.
“Hello, father of mine. How are you? Hey: Wanna come perform tractor sprinkler surgery at my house while I watch and make asinine comments that you won’t appreciate? It’s BYOT (bring your own tools).”
Okay. Text has been sent.
He says maybe later.
Truth is, the number one thing that life has taught me is to bounce back. That determination and resilience are powerful tools towards accomplishing your dreams. That being assertive and standing up for yourself just as often as you do so for others doesn’t make you a bitch, it makes you strong.
Yesterday, after eight months in one of my current jobs, I was offered a full-time position. Which I accepted. I am currently struggling to write resignation letters to my other two jobs so that I can take it.
Funnily enough, this came the day after I applied for the new Home Goods store that’s opening in my town. Even with my three jobs, I wasn’t getting the full-time hours I so desperately needed, so I was applying to be a cashier for some extra cash and an employee discount. And then this happened.
And I can’t help but to think that I wouldn’t have gotten full-time in this job I love if it weren’t for my refusal to keep my mouth shut when things weren’t proceeding appropriately or my understanding that chasing my passions wasn’t worth putting up with abuse. Because, funnily enough, I wanted nothing more in life than to work at a local veterinary clinic whose staff I know and love. As a trained vet tech, when I heard that they were hiring for a new technician, I almost applied to work with my friends. But I looked at the way those wonderful people are treated and I just couldn’t do it. I’ve worked in abusive environments before – places with horrible coworkers or even worse bosses – and I knew that I could never be happy there.
You can love what you do, but that doesn’t make it better if you’re burning.
And so I didn’t chase that particular dream, because one of the other lessons that life is taught me is the value of patience. If you hold out, weigh your options, and refuse to settle for a situation that you know, in your heart, isn’t right for you, better things will come. It’s inevitable. You just have to work your ass off, do what you have to until you can do what you want, in the meantime.
There are three main things that I think you’re supposed to learn from life, and they are this:
- Be smart.
- Be kind.
- Be honest.
To others, but to yourself, too.
Life with Cait 