A work post

I promised Tracey I would post on this, so here it goes.

I have been working for the same company full time for 8 (but a total of 10-crazy) years, and 6 of those years have been right here in TX. About 4 years ago, at a big conference in Seattle, I watched a lot of my friends and coworkers get recognition for their accomplishments. In many ways, it bummed me out, because I always had worked really hard and I was under the misguided impression that working hard should get noticed. Also, it was somewhat a blow to my pride that my friends, who were newer to the job, were already considered better at it than I was. At one point during the presentation, I leaned over to a friend and told him that "next year I'd be walking across that stage."

Well, the next year came & went, and little changed about how I did my job, so no recognition. Again, disappointment. I asked for a change in assignment from my boss and was devastated when he told me that he couldn't support a move because I wasn't performing my job. I was confounded...how had I been able to keep this job for so long if I wasn't doing it well? Those of you who read this who know my work may realize now that I was good at the people part of my job, but not so much else. I didn't know what to do.

In one of the unexplainable miracles of life, I ended up getting the change I had asked for. I took that as a sign that I was not to go forward unchanged, so I looked at my job with fresh eyes. I changed a lot of what I did, and the job felt different--good, promising, rewarding--just for doing it the right way. I have now been in that "new" city for 3 years.

On Monday of this week, in a group of my supervisors and peers, I finally won the award I had sought after for 4 long years. I was named Manager of the Quarter out of over 60 managers in our region. It seems silly, that sentence, but it isn't to me. I can't explain why, but I feel validated about the changes I've made, not just to my work life, but my friendships, my faith, and my family life as well. I thank God for His provision over the last four years, to sustain me even when I felt like uprooting everything and starting over. I guess in some ways I have, but in the best way ever.