Redefining My Life's Grind

After my job lost me month's ago I jumped for joy on the inside because somehow I knew the time was ripe for me to redefine my grind.  For so long I was unaware that I lived life by default with little to no definitive choices in the work arena.  After having my son whom I might add, my sun rose and set on , my life somewhat revolved around him for years.  All I knew at age nineteen as a new mom was that I did not want to fail him.  I worked a succession of jobs where my main criteria was that I would work days and could be home for him in the evenings.  I've been everything from an administrative assistant extraordinaire, sales associate, receptionist, leasing consultant, mentor teacher, program coordinator, marketing assistant, catering event assistant to a college admissions representative. I've always prided myself with exhibiting professionalism, stellar customer service and a tremendous capacity to learn quickly.  In each work setting I found myself in, I discovered countless things about myself that compelled me to grow.  Two things that I know for sure, I love to learn and I absolutely love people. I could not be in a workplace where I had little to no interaction with people. Somehow I think I'd go crazy if required to work in an office with no windows and access to people.  I've also had the opportunity to be mentored by some pretty fascinating individuals.  Somehow I don't believe many of them knew that they were actually mentoring me.  Without saying a word I watched in wonder those around me and pondered how their personal and professional lives intersected. As a young impressionable woman, I wondered if the women I worked side by side women were at all happy.  I knew that these older hardworking women were seemingly wise, but were they happy with the professions and the lives that they chose or had their lives chosen them?  Take for instance, in my very early twenties I shall never forget the lessons I gleaned from a handful of powerful women.  I worked at a local hospital in the Nutrition Services Department as the assistant to the Director.  Routinely, the very talented ladies who prepared meals in the dietary kitchen would stop and visit with me in the main office.  Usually they wanted to take a break and get off of their feet. Some days were nice short visits to inquire about any potential boyfriends I might have, but usually the lack of one, chit chatting about their families and of course comical comments on how I stayed so thin.  Other days which were sadly more frequent these culinary artists who cooked meals that nourished the sick of an entire hospital would come into my office and sit and complain of the many aches and pains their bodies were experiencing.  One day in particular, an ordinary day as it was, something interesting occurred. I received a lesson for a lifetime.  The director requested some forms printed up for one of the cooks so that her performance evaluation could be conducted.  While pulling up this particular form, my psyche was startled as I noticed this employee's date of hire. I simply could not get past the idea that this brilliant, vibrant, talented woman who had been employed as a hospital cook, a profession that is and always has been physically demanding for as long as I had been alive, at that point, twenty plus years. I wondered then and I still do now sometimes how had she ever started out on a path that would quiet her passions and challenge her body.  Many such women do what they must do in order to provide for their children. Years go by brutally assaulting their creativity and health while making the minimum payment on the monthly bills.  Back then I vowed to not become that woman.  I refused to throw away years of my life in back breaking work only to become bitter and spent.  Well time marched on and I did not become bitter but I was definitely spent.  I discovered that I had squandered my years on jobs that assaulted my creativity and stifled my talents.  I had become that woman who did what she had to do.  Of course, I sprinkled my various job descriptions over the years with my own unique style and personality.  I've always managed to infuse my work environment with as much positivity and optimism as possible without bordering on the nauseatingly stupid. Over the years I've recognized that being true to yourself in the work arena not only benefits yourself through authenticity but remaining true to yourself also has a profound effect on the lives of those you come into contact with whether you realize it or not.  Once my job lost me and my mind began to wonder about what career pursuit I might want to experiment with, I decided on two simple things: I would much rather a work pursuit that has minimal stress with the maximum potential of affecting the lives of others.  So here I am after all these years eradicating the pressure of the professional world with a genuine desire to redefine my daily grind.  I do not want to slip up and somehow have my life choose me, but I am proactively choosing the quality of life thats right for me at this place in my life.  I do this without shame.  I am beyond the hype.  I want to adopt the mantra of the Seven Dwarfs, I want to "whistle while I work." I want to be that older woman who makes everyone's day, the "Mary Tyler Moore" of the office, if you will. I want to redefine my daily grind.