The Journey: 1 Month Anniversary

Last Saturday marked an anniversary that I never wanted to have and didn’t mention because, last Friday, was a much better day. My wife and I began our ‘celebration week’ which begins every year on February 12th. On that day, we celebrate our anniversary, then there is Valentine’s Day and, finally, her birthday. It was fantastic few days and many new memories were made…including her falling in the snow on our way into Red Lobster, me losing my flip flop in a snow bank on our way into Red Lobster and us leaving Red Lobster because it was too busy. I’ll share that story another day

Unfortunately, last Saturday marked an anniversary I’d rather not have. That day marked the one month mark of me being informed that my position was eliminated due to the poor economy. So, for the first time since 1990, I’m not working full time. Yep, even when I was just a kid, I had a job. Actually, back then, I had quite a few jobs, but I digress.

I wasn’t going to say anything about the 1 month mark until I started paying the bills today. Even when you’re employed, paying bills is not something you get excited about, but when you don’t have a steady income, it’s an adrenaline-pumping experience. On the one hand, you get depressed to see the funds in your checking account keep going down with every new entry and, on the other, you get excited that you’re still in the black. Then, the excitement moves to a strange emotion as you think ‘how long will the font color stay black?’. Ahh, good times.

By God’s grace, the color should stay black for awhile longer. I hate to use the word ‘coincidences’…maybe ‘events’ is better. Anyway, because of this blog and other ‘events’, I’ve been able to line up a couple of freelance gigs including the opportunity to work for a guy that I’ve looked up to and learned much from over the past few years.

So, in the bleakness of this journey, I keep finding new ways to keep getting up even though life continues to try and knock me down. I guess that’s the big lesson to be learned when you’re faced with circumstances beyond your control.

I’ll leave you with something that plays in my mind on a daily (maybe hourly) basis…like I said, everything I ever needed to know, I learned from Rocky.

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