4 Things I Told Myself When Life Had Other Plans

that completely changed my mindset

I had an entire list of ideas on what to write for the Wednesday Wisdom post, but fate had other things in store.

6 weeks ago, I resigned from a full-time job, after being offered a 6-month contracting position. I wrote about this in a post I had published in the Orange Journal, which you can read here

I resigned just in the nick of time to make the start date for the new job.

Since then, my start date was then moved 3 times, the first two times causing me to panic and burst into tears.

I was contacted two weeks ago and told the date would be moving yet again and they would confirm by the end of the following week.

After chasing twice, I received a call yesterday to tell me that the position is no longer available and I was sent two other job specs, which are for less money.

I was pretty stunned.

I didn’t know how to feel, as much as I want to pursue a career in writing, I planned to do that alongside a paid job until I can make enough money from writing to do it permanently.

I messaged the husband and told him, and carried on shopping with the mother, although I wasn’t feeling as spritely as I had been.

On the drive home, I had a whole 45 minutes to myself to process what had happened and it hadn’t escaped my notice that I hadn’t reacted. I broke down when the date got pushed back by a week, as it stands, there is now no job at all. 

Where is the obligatory meltdown?

Then I realised, there would be no meltdown.

It’s going to be ok. Whilst this is a blow to my finances, it’s a massive win for my mindset.

I have become more resilient, I can rationalise, and I can be calm. I am not this lunatic stress head that I had accepted myself to be and this was a welcome revelation.

So what are the 4 things I told myself when my plans went up in smoke

1. The situation is out of my control

If the role isn’t there, it isn’t there. There is not a thing I can do about it. I will focus on the things I can control and seek other opportunities.

2. Getting upset serves no purpose

I’ve reacted emotionally before and the only person it upset was me, it won’t change anything, apart from my mood.

3. Everything happens for a reason

I honestly do believe this. It’s weird, I had a gut feeling that this job wasn’t going to materialise, but I thought it was just me panicking. It would appear that this particular job simply wasn’t meant for me.

4. I have plenty to be grateful for

I am fortunate that I have some money set aside for bills etc that will cover me for a short period. My husband has been very supportive, I have a roof over my head, food in my cupboard and now I have more time to write.

Things will work out, I just have to be patient and hope for the best. In the meantime, I popped open a bottle of pink bubbles (thank you Rachel) and had a toast to myself because I have done something I never thought possible.

I took control of my emotions ♥️