When one door closes, sometimes you have to break in through the window
It's been a bit of a week, to say the least...
Early in the week, there was a rumor floating around work that they were going to start laying people off. Obviously, this makes panic set in with even the most level-headed person, but as someone with a foot out the door and a history of layoffs... I started to freak. So, I did the logical thing and reached out to the new job (that was still waiting for me) and asked for a timetable. The answer I got was, more or less... June. Great! I relayed this information to my bosses at the old job and figured that was that.
Reader, I was wrong...
On Wednesday morning (the morning after my email), I received a response back that said (to paraphrase), "We cannot wait until your new job starts. Today is your last day." Well... ok then. Again, panic sets in. What if the new job can't take me right away? What will I do? How will I pay my bills? I immediately reached out to the new job to explain what had happened and the response I got was basically, "We'll figure it out. Stay tuned!" I knew that I'd have 1 more paycheck coming in and that helped to soothe me a bit. Rent would be taken care of. I had a fair amount of supplies to get me through. But still... panic.
I started calling companies and researching putting off payments. Anything due early in the month was my first priority. Take care of those and then worry about the others mid-month. Wednesday was basically a flurry of anxiety and panic and "shit, not again!" Thankfully, late in the day I got the savior of an email... "Can you start Monday?"
HELL YES I CAN START MONDAY! (said in nicer more appropriate words)
The relief was instant. Yes, of course, I start thinking about everything that can possibly go wrong between now and Monday, but at least I know that if something does go wrong, that this new job has my back 100%.
Thursday was paperwork day. Never fun, but it's nice to make things official. Even with that, though, I was still scared to tell anyone. If I tell people I'm starting Monday and something goes wrong... I didn't want to think about the embarrassment. So I held off. When nothing bad came my way today, I figured it was safe to shout it out to the world... and I did!
Anyone that's been following this job journey with me (either here or just in life) understands what this new job means to me. It's not just a new job... it's a completely new beginning. Something I've been working towards for 8 years. Yes, getting the "you no longer work here" email is absolutely terrifying and more and more people are losing their jobs right now. I consider myself so lucky that I had this new job waiting for me... and I'm eternally grateful that they found a way to bring me onboard on such short notice.
I know I say this a lot but... never give up. A closed door is just a closed door. There are always other options, other doors, maybe a window. For 8 years I received countless rejections and was beginning to think there was something fundamentally wrong with me. But I still never gave up. I knew in my heart that there was something more for me out there. And even with everything that happened this week, I could have sat there and just felt sorry for myself. Cried and screamed and yelled to the universe, "WHY ME?!" but I didn't. I got to work and figured out what to do. When other people took control away from me, I just took it right back.
Your life is your own. Yes, circumstances can suck and people will knock you down. It's up to you to figure out if you're going to stay down there or if you're going to say, "No! This is MY life!"
- Danielle
Early in the week, there was a rumor floating around work that they were going to start laying people off. Obviously, this makes panic set in with even the most level-headed person, but as someone with a foot out the door and a history of layoffs... I started to freak. So, I did the logical thing and reached out to the new job (that was still waiting for me) and asked for a timetable. The answer I got was, more or less... June. Great! I relayed this information to my bosses at the old job and figured that was that.
Reader, I was wrong...
On Wednesday morning (the morning after my email), I received a response back that said (to paraphrase), "We cannot wait until your new job starts. Today is your last day." Well... ok then. Again, panic sets in. What if the new job can't take me right away? What will I do? How will I pay my bills? I immediately reached out to the new job to explain what had happened and the response I got was basically, "We'll figure it out. Stay tuned!" I knew that I'd have 1 more paycheck coming in and that helped to soothe me a bit. Rent would be taken care of. I had a fair amount of supplies to get me through. But still... panic.
I started calling companies and researching putting off payments. Anything due early in the month was my first priority. Take care of those and then worry about the others mid-month. Wednesday was basically a flurry of anxiety and panic and "shit, not again!" Thankfully, late in the day I got the savior of an email... "Can you start Monday?"
HELL YES I CAN START MONDAY! (said in nicer more appropriate words)
The relief was instant. Yes, of course, I start thinking about everything that can possibly go wrong between now and Monday, but at least I know that if something does go wrong, that this new job has my back 100%.
Thursday was paperwork day. Never fun, but it's nice to make things official. Even with that, though, I was still scared to tell anyone. If I tell people I'm starting Monday and something goes wrong... I didn't want to think about the embarrassment. So I held off. When nothing bad came my way today, I figured it was safe to shout it out to the world... and I did!
Anyone that's been following this job journey with me (either here or just in life) understands what this new job means to me. It's not just a new job... it's a completely new beginning. Something I've been working towards for 8 years. Yes, getting the "you no longer work here" email is absolutely terrifying and more and more people are losing their jobs right now. I consider myself so lucky that I had this new job waiting for me... and I'm eternally grateful that they found a way to bring me onboard on such short notice.
I know I say this a lot but... never give up. A closed door is just a closed door. There are always other options, other doors, maybe a window. For 8 years I received countless rejections and was beginning to think there was something fundamentally wrong with me. But I still never gave up. I knew in my heart that there was something more for me out there. And even with everything that happened this week, I could have sat there and just felt sorry for myself. Cried and screamed and yelled to the universe, "WHY ME?!" but I didn't. I got to work and figured out what to do. When other people took control away from me, I just took it right back.
Your life is your own. Yes, circumstances can suck and people will knock you down. It's up to you to figure out if you're going to stay down there or if you're going to say, "No! This is MY life!"
- Danielle
