Possibilities
If you have lived any amount of time, you have experienced the mountain highs and the valley lows that are part of every life. We all love the high of the mountains and the weightlessness we experience. There is nothing wrong with that because we need and deserve the exuberance of it. But what about the valleys? What happens in the valleys? Is there any good reason that we have to experience the darkness, sadness and uncertainty of the valleys?
Where Possibilities Are Born
When we are on the mountain top, we may experience the “anything is possible” feeling but in the valley, we learn that there may be a wait before we are presented with the entrance to the “promised land”. Possibilities may be born on the mountain, but the actuality is hammered out in the valley where through the darkness we reach deep within our spirits to find out how strong and how patient we are.
Do not ever diss the value of the valley because it is there that we develop muscles and focus for what really matters. Even though it seems we bury possibilities in the valleys because things continue to turn downward and pull us in reverse but in reality, we are finding out that possibilities are limitless as we push back on what is attempting to destroy us.
Recognizing The Possibilities
I have been a writer all my life from early teen years. After my divorce, I decided to see if I could make a living doing what I not only loved but what I was very good at. Up until that time, I was writing for my pleasure and personal benefit. An opportunity presented itself through a temp agency I was registered with. I got the call just as I was going in for surgery on my foot, but I said yes, I want the opportunity to accept the job. I interviewed while I was still on crutches but assured my interviewer that I would be off my crutches and able to get to the upstairs office.
I successfully wrote in English and translated into Spanish the factory operating procedures over the next three months. As I was finishing, a company by the name of Information Development was looking for a writer and my temp agency again presented me the offer. I accepted and then they hired me after I finish the temp agency’s period of commitment to them.
In the span of a few months’ time, two possibilities came to me to do what I loved by had no prior professional experience. I always give God the praise for these possibilities coming to me, but you may have another “higher power”. I claim God as the Director of my ways. Here is the kicker, though. God can work all kinds of miracles for us but if we do not step up, stand up and grasp the possibility in front of us it will not happen for us.
Grasping the Possibilities
When I was laid off at Information Development, I met my valley. The darkness was intense, and the fear was real as I had no idea where to turn and had myself and my small daughter to support. I didn’t even know how to go about filling out paperwork for unemployment and all I could see was “impossibilities”.
I went to visit a friend of mine and she walked me through the process of getting unemployment. She also gave me another suggestion. “Why don’t you start your own business with your unemployment money,” she suggested. I looked at her with incredulous eyes because there was no way, I knew how to start a business. She knew about my writing abilities so again pointed to starting my own business.
I went home, finished filling out my unemployment and submitted it. Then I took care of what I had control over like getting my daughter to school, tending to our little apartment and starting to focus on what was being a more and more realistic possibility that I needed to reach out and grasp.
This possibility stretched over a period of 25 years where I wrote Continuing Education courses for clients throughout the United States. For me this sealed my belief in myself that I was a successful writer. But first I had to grasp the possibility.
Re-envisioning Your Possibilities
Currently, I am to be retired but am still working because I want to and because there are still some financial goals I want to accomplish. Then the valley loomed ahead of me as the Independent School District I was substitute-teaching for cut my pay by $600/month and the company I was writing blogs for closed its doors so that income was gone. In my mind, I needed to look for a writing job because that was what I had been doing and had been successful at.
Then last night my eyes were opened to another possibility in a totally chance meeting. The longer we talked, the more my eyes were opened to another possibility that included writing, included election processes and creating training. After the conversation I had with a lady I picked up a key from at the location for early voting next week, I started letting myself believe that this may very well me an opportunity to re-envision my possibilities. She first told me where online I could find the application for the job then said, “no, just send me your resume because I am speaking with the mayor in the morning and can discuss it with her.”
Always give yourself enough latitude to re-envision the possibilities in your life today.
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On Track for Success in Finances by Sharon O'Maley | eBook | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
Lift Off with Financial Investments by Sharon O'Maley | eBook | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)