What got me here in the first place...

There are many variations of this saying, but a decent paraphrase of one of my favorite lines is, "Man plans, and God laughs."  I think that I like that because I am living proof of that axiom.  I had planned on staying in Findlay/Toledo, and planned on only casually looking for jobs, thinking perhaps that next year would be a better year for that step.  Can you hear the laughter?  Instead, I left my position rather abruptly, looked in earnest, and with few other opportunities closer to home, accepted a career path "job" eight states away.

I guess that is what they call a bold step, and it, like most first steps, was taken with some (considerable?) trepidation.  OK, let's be honest.  I am scared to death.  I had finally, I think, adjusted to all the changes that brought me to and came with my  move to Ohio.  I had, I think, developed relationships to a few key people who were my support network in Ohio and Wisconsin, and then all of this came up.

What this all has taught me (and I am sure that the lessons are not finished) is that there is never any perfect time for change, but it will come whether you are ready or not.  And that it is usually not just one change at a time, but several that happen in sequence--serial change, if you will.   I would say mine started when my Dad passed away in April, then I left my previous job, and then interviewed and accepted this job.  I have also learned that my changes do affect others, like ripples in a pond and that these ripples can be both good and bad, sometimes good and bad at the same time.  Lastly, I think I am learning that you sometimes just have to go along with the tide of changes.  They certainly cause challenges, but I am figuring out that it is easier and perhaps more productive to focus on how to solve the challenges rather than just dwell on the challenges themselves.  That is, it's best to look forward rather than backwards as you go on a roller coaster like this.

So, I am on this roller coaster.  With a lot of help, I had a garage sale, packed up and left my apartment, and am on my way.