Mission accomplished. Sometimes you enjoy the simple satisfaction of having completed something you set out to do. I set out to have a good experience and to put my best foot forward in my presentation and interview process. I am grateful to say that it went well, as well as I’d hoped it would. I wasn’t so sure about that 24 hours ago, when I decided to totally change what I was going to talk about in my presentation. What I had been planning to present just didn’t “feel” right–I wasn’t comfortable with what I was talking about and how it was flowing when I practiced it. So I decided to pull something else out and try it. What I put together ultimately felt much better, even though it meant that I didn’t get to bed until well after midnight Eastern time. I then proceeded to get up at 6:30 Eastern, which was 3:30 in the Pacific time zone, which was where my body still thought it was. I guess adrenaline and green tea were sufficient to keep me going through the day.
I am grateful for all the well-wishers who sent messages of support and love; I was definitely buoyed by them. As I wrote yesterday night, it was a wonderful thing to be held with such love by so many people. That feeling is going to stay with me for a long while.
So now that I’m back in CA, I’ll get back on the job search. Having a good experience today is just part of the process, and until I know I have a definite offer from one of these places, I can’t let up. I am also keeping my eyes and spirit open for something to come from a completely different direction. Anyway, tomorrow it’s back at it. Tonight, however, a little bit of simple gratitude before I sign off. First for traveling mercies: I had a very tight turn around on my flight into Michigan yesterday, and in spite of some nervous moments because my first flight arrived 15 minutes late, I still made my connecting flight without having to break into an all-out run through Ohare. Then today, because my interview ran about 45 minutes late, I was unable to standby for an earlier flight that would have gotten me home a couple of hours earlier. I ended up sitting in the Grand Rapids airport for nearly two hours, which wasn’t bad. I talked to a friend on the phone and relaxed and sent some texts. Missing the earlier flight turned out to be a pretty good thing because the connecting flight that I would have taken from Chicago back to San Francisco ended up having issues and was eventually scheduled to leave even later than my original flight. I got home in time to go to my meditation class. Even though I was almost an hour late, I still got a lot of value from the second half of the class.
All in all, it’s been a good, if hectic 36 or so hours. What I had hoped for going into this experience was that coming out of it I would feel like I had done my best and showed up as my best self. And I did. To use a sports analogy, I left it all on the floor–I gave my all, no holding back anything in reserve. If in the end I am not offered the position, it won’t be because I didn’t shine, it would mean that perhaps the fit wasn’t there for the people making the decision. Whatever happens, I feel good. I am grateful for this process of applying and interviewing for positions. Besides the practical elements of getting clearer on how to best present myself to potential employers, it is also really allowing me to get increasingly clearer about what it is I want to do with my life. While much of that is still unfolding, I feel like I am getting closer to the answers I’ve been seeking. Until then, I celebrate days like today, I offer gratitude, and I smile!
© M. T. Chamblee 2011
2 Responses to Lessons in Gratitude Day 124