Valuable Lessons I Learned When My Career Ended Unexpectedly
Sometimes We Need a Shake-Up to Wake-UP
I thought I was a banker.
For a good chunk of time I dressed in suits, dropped off kids, and drove to a place where I was needed and appreciated. In fact, I was still driving there well after my kids had kids. Yes, for that long.
Then things changed.
A new company came in and the entire culture did a 180. Has anything like this ever happened to you?
Sometimes when you’ve worked somewhere for almost thirty years, a new company might want to do some spring cleaning. You know what I mean?
But sometimes cleaning house can be a dirty job and I don’t like to play in the dirt. The goals were set high, friend — super high.
I’m not being whiny , honest. I’m not complaining about hard work. I was fully invested, I’m talking 254,040 hours of my life invested. Okay, there were some vacation days and sick days mixed in there somewhere, but as sad as this may sound, I was still available — accessible.
I was always on call. Like when on a 25th anniversary trip to NYC the cell phone rings in the Museum of Natural History because somebody needed to know something about something. And those middle-of-the-night calls from the police that alarms were going off and my name was first on the contact list. Yes, I was invested.
Eventually, Your Dreams Need to Come Out
Remember those super-high goals? They weren’t just any goals, they were it’s-time-you-moved-on goals if you know what I mean. Others of my peer group received these special goals as well — stretchier than stretch goals, colossally galactic, reach-for-the-moon, astronomically high in the sky goals.
But I had a great team of astronomically determined people and we weren’t going down with the ship. My team built a fortress around me and we did it, friend. We more than did it, we killed it.
That was sweet — but bittersweet actually. Because even though the plan to move me along got the wind knocked out of its sails, it didn’t change the fact that they tried to break my spirit — they tried to knock the wind out of my sails. And for a time they succeeded.
The writing was on the wall and as we know, that never ends well. In the end, I resigned because, friend, it just wasn’t pretty. What once was great was beyond broken and even the ones who broke it were beginning to feel the effects. It trickles down from the top and nobody is indispensable.
Hear me. Your life, your hours, your moments, are more precious than you think.
For the love, are you killing yourself for a company that doesn’t love you back?
There are dreams in you that need to come out. Maybe it’s time to find out what you’re missing out on. Because true creativity can be suppressed for just so long. We can’t allow other people to determine our worth and make up all the rules.
Now don’t go quitting your job because you read some girl’s post that gave you permission to do so. But maybe this girl’s posts will help you reevaluate if you’re living a plan B instead of your plan A.
Although I left, I didn’t quit. And I didn’t leave on their terms and timing— I left on God’s terms and timing. And when I walked out of those doors for the last time, I was looking up because now I was free to reach-for-the-moon for the right reasons.
The Bible has some pretty cool wisdom. God spells it out as plain as cheese pizza— what’s done in the dark will be brought to light. Lots of dark came to light after I left there. Splattered all over the evening news in fact. But enough said about that…
Here’s what I learned:
- I’m not all-that. Yeah, thankful to have been knocked down a few notches in the pride department, God — because You allowed that for my good. The initial shock to me was more shocking because for years I was top-notch. The accolades, awards, at-a-girls — pride inflated my head in a sneaky sort of way.
- I thought I was a banker, but I never really was. I am me and banking was what I did for a living. The scars from ripping off that label have faded away without a trace. Peel the labels off, friend.
- I can’t always trust people to do the right thing and I can’t always trust me to do the right thing — but I can always trust God. He is faithful.
- If I had stayed where I was I wouldn’t be where I am.
- I need to beware of attachment. Unhealthy attachment can become an idol. Are you too attached to something or someone other than God, your spouse, or your family?
- I need to give myself grace when I regress a little because even after being gone from there eight years, weird stuff still comes out. Like I still catch myself saying so-and-so came into the bank today — I mean the church or I can’t find my bank keys — I mean church keys. It freaks me out a little but it’s normal.
- Difficult and dark seasons are not the end of us — we can survive and we can use what we’ve learned from even the most horrendous experiences.
- God allows change to make us move. When we get stuck in familiar we miss reaching our full potential — and possibly our calling.
- People don’t define our worth and people are no match for God.
- God is in our corner. He fights for us and He always wins.
“…The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14 NIV
I share this not to dwell on the past (because I don’t anymore) but to inspire someone out there to step out in faith.
Is it you?
Are you going through some ridiculously hard times with ridiculously hard decisions to make?
Pray this prayer with me…
Father in heaven, I am in awe of You — You are my refuge and strength and ever present help in times of trouble. Thank you for Your grace, mercy, and peace that surpasses all understanding. Help me to grow as You prune me back so I can walk in Your will for my life. Your Word says I can ask for wisdom and You will give it to me, liberally. I need Your wisdom. Help me make right decisions and may they glorify You. Help me be who You created me to be through faith in Jesus. Forgive me for being prideful and for anything I have done not pleasing to You, Lord. Change me from the inside out. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
There you go, friend. Never let anyone squash your dreams or hide your light under a bushel.
When God makes us move He has something worth moving for — and guaranteed it will be more than we could ever imagine.
This post is part of Frank McKinley’s #30Days30Posts Challenge
