From Hermit to Optimist

I realize I’m tardy with my mid-week post but my blog was put on the back burner because when I had any spare time at all, I had to work on my book.  Of course, you might mistake me for Wonder Woman if I had been able to work on my book, update my blog with a mid-week post and prepare for Friday’s post all while I tackled my first week on the new job and spent time with my family whenever we managed to be at home at the same time.

I don’t want to give you the wrong impression.

I do wonder about things and I am a woman…but I’m not Wonder Woman. 

This was quite a week.  I began my new job on Tuesday and really, the rest is a blur.  The new routine is tiring and sometimes a bit overwhelming but overall I’ll admit going back to an office job isn’t all that horrible.  The change to my daily routine was the hardest part for me but I’m sure I’ll eventually forget the perks of running my own business from home and how cozy it was to work in my home office…

Okay, I guess I may not forget that part any time soon. 

While there are perks to being self-employed, there are also perks to working in an office.  One perk I had not really thought about was the day-to-day contact with co-workers.  My job as a private investigator included some regular contact with professionals but not the same people on a daily basis and it certainly did not have to be in person, as much of the contact was easily made over the phone or by email.  In all honestly, I began to prefer it that way. 

I think in some ways this made me more like a hermit. 

Yes, a hermit.  One who lives in a solitary existence.

At least professionally, that is.  I did not have regular daily contact with the people I worked with and there was no time, no reason, no inclination for me to offer anything but the professional side of myself.  I believe I learned to distance myself.

After only three days, I realize how much I enjoy the benefits of having daily contact with co-workers.   I remember now why it was so difficult for me to leave my job with the law firm where I had been employed for 9 years before I branched out to work as a P.I.  They had become like family to me.  Although I was excited about the prospects of spreading my wings and running my own business, I was afraid to leave what was familiar to me.  I was afraid to leave what felt like home.  Although they would always be like family to me, I knew that losing the day-to-day contact with them would change the status quo with regard to our relationship.

But eventually you have to take that first step, hoping it will take you where you want to go.  You can’t let your inner voice, your doubts or your fears hold you back.  If you find your inner beliefs ever holding you back, here’s a quote to keep in mind:

“Human beings, by changing the inner beliefs of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”  By William James

My doubts and my fears were no different this time when I had to make the decision to leave my home office to work someplace else.  I was leaving something familiar; something comfortable; I was leaving my home.  I was changing one routine for another.  Where it will lead, I’m not certain but I have optimism for the future and I can think of no better reason for change.