Starting Over Again and Again and Again **

In February, I made a challenge with myself to write a blog post every day, and I discovered that it reinvigorated my desire to write. However, I also discovered that daily posts weren’t a rational step for me to take at present. If I was a full-time writer, I could pull it off, but I’m not a full-time writer yet so I have gone back to the drawing board to start over.

A couple of months ago, I started a new job, and initially, all of the new information just drained me physically, mentally, and emotionally. I also discovered it tore my creativity to shreds. The thought of writing anything just made me feel twice as exhausted as my new job already made me feel. I knew right then that the job better improve, or I was out of there. I’m not taking another job that kills my desire to write. Jobs are a paycheck, and I bring my purpose to it through faith. Writing is my calling, and no job is going to interfere with it again.

Ironically, while I can’t say my new job is a permanent career, I can say that it has begun to reawaken the writing skills because I’m now designing a website and writing grants. My research skills and creative writing meet in the middle when it comes to grants, and I’m drawing on my old skills of writing persuasive essays and speeches. While there are things about my new job that will continue to stress me out, I know that I can fall back on my writing to deal with the stress, and that’s what I’m doing now.

It feels like I keep starting over again and again and again. I could let it get to me, or I can view it as part of the experience. I just keep getting to try new experiences…a lot. Yes, it can be stressful, but I’ve learned something at even the worst jobs that prepared me to deal with a future job. I try to keep perspective on the job changes, and I remind myself not to take it personally when people don’t understand the many curves in my career path. Even if they were traveling the same path as me, they might make different decisions because of priorities, experience, and expectations. I’ve made my choices, and I deal with the results.

So here I go again starting over. I hope this makes just one person feel like they aren’t entirely alone when it happens to them.

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Inspirational verses for the day:

Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:18-19 (NKJV)