Yesterday I went to two parties. One larger, one small. One celebrating Christmas and one celebrating Hanukkah. Totally different people and events.
The silver lining of going to a party by yourself is that you are forced to talk with people you don’t know (something I obviously do quite frequently!). Yesterday was no exception and at one event I met a woman who I found to be so amazing.
People always start these conversations with, “What do you do for a living?” When she asked me, I told her my theory on careers … we each get three. You don’t have to count being a parent because that’s a life experience. I mean three real careers. I’ve had two. This woman laughed and told me that she has had at least eight so far. Eight totally different careers. Basically, she started in her early 20’s, built business after business and either sold them or moved on. I was fascinated by this. Not because of the variety of her jobs, but by the fact that she was so comfortable with all the changes. Moreover, she used the changes as momentum to propel herself into something else. Oh, and she has a disability on top of it all, which for most people would put them down … not this woman.
My take away was that she found the silver lining in change — And there is a silver lining in change. Whether it’s a change in a job, change in a relationship or change in your life circumstances. We can (and should) find the good in the difficult.
For some of us the holiday season can be trying. We are tired, not eating right, missing those who are no longer with us and spending more money than we like! We are also looking back. Did we make the changes we hoped to make? Was it successful?
This year, I am going to challenge myself to see the silver lining in the things I was able to move forward and the things I was not. I am going to slow it down these next few weeks and enjoy those people who are in my life and those with whom I will have those chance meetings. There really are so many people who can teach us life lessons … all we have to do is keep our eyes open!
Enjoy the first snowfall!
theyearof50 