Tag Archives: challenges

more things i am grateful for this year

little-boy-laughing

i think i can finally return to laughter now — to a bit of a lighter life now that i’ve made it through another rough spot in life

i am a lucky man in SO many ways, and i am truly grateful this Thanksgiving { and on a daily basis beyond official holidays and occasions } for all of it, for both the badness and the goodness i’ve experienced throughout my lifetime

i’ve been out of work now for 2 months — even while employed at my previous workplace, as much as any of us are totally grateful to even have a job in this economy, the environment was not exactly a kind one and i was not set up for success within an antiquated, low-vision establishment — needless to say, i was frustrated and the energies i had to deal with were not helpful in guiding me the right way, toward a more successful way of living and working within a very cliquey and xenophobic, rookie team

a burden was lifted a little when we decided that ‘it wasn’t a good fit’ and i moved on — i was happy to move on, too — i don’t believe in wasting my time or a company’s time just sucking a paycheck from an organization that doesn’t appreciate my talents and what i can do for their business like some sort of societal leech — i’m not going to ‘lay low’ and keep it all inside just to supposedly be a good employee, and if that’s what an organization wants out of their employees, then its definitely not a good fit for me — it just doesn’t seem productive, and the level of contribution an individual contributor is allowed to produce suffers both qualitatively and quantitatively, and not by the fault of that particular employee

anyhow — i just landed a new role at a fantastic company with people that i’ve worked with in the past that truly appreciate both my soft skills and the expertise and capabilities i bring to the table — i was empowered to lead and contribute at a MUCH higher level at the organization i’m joining and i know that my new aim to truly live up to the words i set out to own as a story-based force to guide my behavior and my participation and personality throughout my career moving forward

i have a deeper understanding of myself recently due to rigorous self-reflection and personal analysis, which will completely help me with everything i do both career-wise and otherwise along my life’s journey as well

i’m a better man now

and i am thankful for this downtime opportunity to do this difficult work and really dig into myself and learn and face big mysterious internal and external energies that have held me back or stifled me in the past

i’ve basically rediscovered pieces of myself

i’m re-assembling myself little by little, day by day by day

i feel lighter — not just in a physical weight kinda way, but also spiritually, emotionally, mentally

i enjoy my family more and more, and i enjoy even the dysfunctional dynamics that are sometimes quite naturally embedded in who we all are as human beings in the world

we live in a complicated place

we live in a broken world

and i’m even thankful for the opportunities and challenges this broken world offers up to me as a designer, as a father, as a husband, and ultimately as a citizen of the world

but i am most thankful for my family at this time of year — we all usually are — my family and my friends and my ability to almost find and rescue myself — to rediscover the person i am, who i was, and who i want to be

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