What Is Really Important To You?

Recently I’ve been going through the job seek & find process. This hasn’t been what I would call a “fun” activity (does anyone find this fun?!). It has taken me out of my comfort zone. It’s reminded me how rusty I am on answering those infamous “tell me about a time when…” and “what is your greatest strength/weakness?” questions. But, it has also given me the opportunity to learn new things about myself and ponder what is really important to me.

ASKING

Someone shared this quote with me, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot.

Essentially, the “pause” button has been pressed on my life by outward circumstances. I’ve been forced to think about the “big picture” of my life and ponder what matters to me, and where I want to go from here. It’s been as frustrating as it is enlightening. Perhaps we should all “press pause” [by choice] from time to time. Are we focusing on what is “really important” to us? Are we going in the direction we really want, and need? If not, what changes are we willing to make?

I’ve been in a “holding pattern”, circling around wondering when and where I should “land”, for the past 5 months. The funding for my current position was ending, so I’ve been feeling a lot of urgency and anxiety about finding a new place to land as quickly as possible. Then, last week I had a candid discussion with my boss and was told that my job will actually be able to continue “as is” at 75% – [surprise!] and that he really wanted me to stay [not a surprise, but glad]. It’s nice to know that I am not facing imminent unemployment. I still feel like I need a change, but I have much more freedom and choices in how and when. I can take my time looking for the right place to land. I also have the option to simply stay where I am.

Having more options is an unexpected gift.

LESSON LEARNED: Slow down and make time to ponder what is “really important“. It’s OK to have to wait for the answers. The Seeking and the Finding is all part of our “building” process. Also, expect surprises.

WANDERING

A little over two weeks ago I was laying at home sick and miserable with a terrible virus. My home phone rang. It was a recruiter for a company I’d never heard of who had found my profile on LinkedIn and then taken the time to stalk me search the white pages to track down a phone number for me. Since I’m normally never home, and if she had called and left I message I likely would never have returned it, I decided it might be a sign so I listened. I agreed to be interviewed. Going through the process with an “outside” company was very interesting. It took me down a path I never would have considered before. I ended up having two interviews with them. The company was very flashy and impressive. They have unlimited funds and a corporate lifestyle that’s foreign to me after working for the past ten years in higher education & non-profit. But, where much is given, much is expected. The company pretty much expects its employees to sell their souls be on call 24/7.  Maybe in my younger years that kind of commitment and stress would have felt exciting. Now? No thank you.

LESSON LEARNED: It’s OK to go “off the beaten path” from time to time. If nothing else, we may realize all the good things about our regular old “boring path” (and it might not seem so boring after all). By looking at new options we find out what we are worth, and what we are capable of. Take opportunities to see our life from a new vantage point to help discover what is “really important” to us.

For example, I’ve discovered that making a lot more money is not really important to me.

EMBRACING

Along the path(s) I’m wandering I’m definitely taking time to embrace my life and all the things that I love. Most of all, the people that I love. Tuesday night my parents returned from their full-time LDS mission! They originally accepted a call to serve for 18 months. But, they were so desperately needed and they so loved their mission, they extended for as long as they could – a full 23 months (just shy of 2 full years).

Looking back, it’s surprising how fast the time passed. And, it was funny how much it felt like they’d never even left as we all gathered again around their kitchen table for family dinner – kids playing in the yard, multiple conversations flying, laughter filling the house.

I can’t properly express how grateful I am to my parents for their example of love and service to the Lord, and their courage to leave everything familiar and “safe” behind to follow Him. There’s so many blessings seeing your parents/grandparents joyfully serve the Lord as missionaries, and then being able to joyfully welcome them back home again!

 Life is good when we have people to love and who love us back.

Lesson Learned: Next to God, my family is one of the most “really important” things to me. When it comes down to making a final decision, it always filters through these relationships. My parents are wonderful examples of people who not only know what is really important to them, they’ve had the wisdom and courage to build their lives around it.

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What is “really important” to you?

How are you building your life around your answer?

– MoSop