The end of the beginning

I took off last week. From the blog, not work. I have some projects I’m finishing up which didn’t deserve to compete with the thoughts in my head. I wasn’t prepared to necessarily address that beginning on July 1, I will be unemployed again. Yes, unfortunately, my time with CARA comes to a pre-mature end next week. As the CARA Connection Newsletter states:

Going into 2020, the organization had built a reserve that would have allowed it to manage any challenges previously experienced. However, COVID-19 has been a challenge unlike any other.

”These are challenging times, and it is with great pain to share we are losing staff at no fault of their own at this time,” said Hipp. “They are tremendous people, and have been passionate about serving the running community”.

See full announcement HERE.

As always, I go to a place where I can find a better perspective, the sliver-lining, the opportunity to make lemonade. This was supposed to be the job where I was content and happy, not where I was going to become rich. So of course there’s that. 

My thoughts the last two weeks have been focused on what’s next. I’m somewhere between going full throttle on building back my coaching practice and finding that full-time position where I can be content and happy…and poised to payoff the higher education loan debt that will be coming due when my daughter graduates in two years. 

The sabbatical created by the work-from-home order back in March created a little more time for me to take on additional coaching clients (runners and non-runners) and my volunteer coaching gig with Gilda’s Club went online and I embraced the technology – something that at times I approach kicking an screaming. It’s fun and it reminded me that our growth is fueled by facing down that which makes us uncomfortable.

I continue to learn from and am inspired by my clients’ growth. I know that at the very least coaching in some form is something I find fulfilling and want to continue. Although, I also know I thrive with routine, consistency and security. I’m doing a lot better with routine and consistency working from home this time around. Achieving a satisfying level of security has always been challenging.

In the middle of March I thought I had answered these questions and knew what was next and then the rug was pulled out from all of us. Friday the 13th of March was the last day in the office before the stay-at-home order for most of us, for my daughter and I it was also the day Ann died. For the Black Lives Matter movement, it was the day Breonna Taylor died. 

It feels like 2020 is the year that the Universe has finally decided we all need to change – a complete universal reset! How can any of us walk away from this time unaltered? I think collectively we are all being asked to reflect and renew, become better versions of ourselves for the greater good. In finding a better perspective, I’m trying to discover how I can be part of lasting change. For myself, my family, my community, and the Universe.

There’s a lot to think about. A lot of work to do. Good thing I have the time.