It's Good to Be Back

For months, I toiled in misery at a job I despised for the sole reason of making money to pay bills. I left a position that was somewhat flexible and allowed me a little bit of independence and went directly to a job that kept track of every single minute of my day. EVERY. SINGLE. MINUTE.

Circumstances were such that I wanted a change and thought the call center job sounded much less demanding and certainly would allow me to be home more for The Pie.  It did, but it was also draining my intellect at a rapid rate. I knew on the second day of training that I needed to get out and I set in motion a plan to do just that. Thankfully, the plan finally came to fruition.

Almost a month ago, I left that horrible job and started working at a job I love. I now have a position with a local non-profit organization that works with abused children. Instead of making sales in a call center environment, I'm making a difference in my community. It is important to me to work in a field that is respected and that is fulfilling to me as a human being. I don't want to be a faceless number to my employer, I want to be a contributing member of a team working toward a common goal.  I'm thrilled to have found my niche.

The Pie is happy, too. She has said numerous times that she is happy I got "the great job." She could tell from my episodes that I dreaded going to work every day, that I hated sitting on the phones for 8 hours, that I did nothing meaningful. She said just yesterday that she was glad we could laugh together again. That made me get teary because I had to wonder how long it had been since we had actually laughed together.

Here's another thing: my salary increased by just over 1/3 of what I have been making. That translates to a more stable financial situation for the two of us. Immediate concerns are paying what is most behind, but as time goes by, we will be able to save and plan for The Pie's future instead of just wonder how we can get food on the table for a couple of days.

Most importantly, The Pie and I are now completely off any state assistance and are self-sufficient. Since her birth, The Pie has been on state Medicaid and now I can afford to provide insurance for her through my employer. She no longer qualifies for the free lunch program due to my salary and though we have been slowly downsizing the amount of food stamps we received, we are no longer are eligible for that assistance. I am a believer in the "welfare system" and a hand up to help those in trouble bridge the gap. I've witnessed many people turn it into a lifestyle and be proud of it, but not I. I am excited to announce that those days are behind me.

It was worth the wait. What's important to note is that I did what I HAD to do until I could do what I WANTED to do. I worked in a crappy job, I tolerated crappy treatment, degrading comments, strict time allotments and host of other issues and worked in the mean time to get where I wanted to be.

TOTALLY worth it.