Bridges are just a way to help us cross something deep that we face. When the path of life brings us to a gap, it helps us reach the other side and keep going.
Writing has always been my outlet and lately I haven’t taken the time to post them but here we go again trying to do the blog. This might be the most vulnerable post I have ever written but since I don’t have a huge following, here it is.
For me, it has been a rough few years but recently, it hit me like a revelation and helped me realize that it was just a chasm on my path of life. Okay, maybe there were several deep chasms, but there was always a bridge for me to cross, even if the path was so foggy that I didn’t see it until I reached the first plank of the bridge.
One thing I realized was that rejections are hard to see when they happen but if we put them in perspective, they actually can be turned into opportunities.
Since I became a sudden widow in 2015, I began to try to step out and make a better life for me and my daughter. I knew I had the potential to do more at the place I was employed and actually enjoyed what it stood for at the time. However, over the years leadership changed, lots of people quit and I was passed up three times for a promotion. Each time someone was hired with less direct, in-office experience for the role, while I just had to sit back and continue to do my job as if I was pigeon holed. They never saw my potential no matter how much I tried. I was constantly pushed down and seen as weak because I had empathy and cared about motivating others to learn and succeed. It caused me to decide to improve my resume and start a new job search.
Fast forward a few years and I thought 2019 was going to be the year that everything was going to change. However, three weeks into it, life quickly took a downward dive that sent me into a very dark place. I had stepped out to try a new relationship in the last few months of 2018 which ended abruptly at the beginning of 2019 causing me to feel even more alone. Now my life was becoming unhappy. It seemed as if my job was just becoming a place I had to be. By February of 2019, I was losing hope in many places of my life.
Toward the end of the summer of 2019, I decided that I was a woman who needed to show I wasn’t afraid to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. My employer got everyone excited with the idea of a pay raise to keep up with industry standards. I couldn’t wait to see my raise, but when I got my letter it was a whopping 55 cent pay raise. That was $0.55, yes almost covered the price of a stamp. At the same time, a place where I had applied told me they were reevaluating the job and weren’t sure which direction they were going to go. One way, I was a great candidate and the other way, I wasn’t. My organization was doing a restructure and everyone was being forced to apply for new jobs so I decided to try something new. That is when I was rejected for the third and final time for a promotion and took a new lateral role with my 55 cent raise.
It was now fall of 2019 and I was just trying to keep my head up and settle in to the new role when I heard from the job I had applied for a month before that. They called and asked for an interview and I was offered the job the very next morning. It was a step out of my comfort zone but not one that I couldn’t take. It was a huge improvement and almost a year later, I am now so grateful for those rejections and the leadership who never saw my potential. Because of them, it pushed me out of the nest to find my wings and soar. It was like I had come to the bridge but I was too afraid to cross until I took the first step. Now, it is 2021. Despite the pandemic, I have had some major accomplishments working with a team of offices in six locations. Working with major professionals and being supported by my employer makes me feel empowered because they actually see my potential and appreciate it.
Thinking back, there were many times since I became a single, working mom where I had to let people help me. People were there to help me emotionally at my lowest when I wanted to give up. People were there to help me financially when I didn’t know how I would keep going when only offered the extra 55 cents. People were there to help me physically when I couldn’t figure out how to replace a sub floor. As a single mom, there were lots of ways I needed to humble myself and accept help.
As for the relationship and finding love again, eh, it might happen one day. I am too old for tinder and don’t bar hop. Even with the rejection, there were lots of lessons learned and I will be stronger because of it. No matter what, the same thing applies, there will be someone better that loves me in the way that I need and allows me to be the same for them. I could even share my knowledge of DIY with my fancy pink tool set because I have learned to do many things, including changing the air filter on a mower and in my car.
I poured out my heart in this post because I know that someone else needs to hear this. I also know that God didn’t wake me up and put this on my heart at 2 am for nothing. So HEAR this…
The people that hurt you didn’t stop your destiny, they shifted you. Your situations make you stronger and direct you on the path you need to be on to move forward. There may be potholes but always a bridge when facing deep chasms. My faith keeps me focused. It teaches me that those situations are all part of God’s plan to move you forward. There are other people God has prepared for your path who can’t wait to
👉Help you
👉Be good to you
👉Love you unconditionally
👉Believe so much in you.
Trust your faith, trust God and step out. Be you and be strong. It isn’t rejection, it is preparation for what lies ahead. Keep walking through the fog and see the bridge ahead of you. God will be there to help you across.
Faith Created Simple 