I’ve always held a firm belief that everything happens for a reason. My new quest to find a way to escape the 9 to 5 grind has not been exempt from reaffirming that belief. It seems that every time I begin to doubt myself, something happens to remind me that I’m on the right path.
Take yesterday, for instance. After having yet another sleepless night, I was not only tired but irritable on my beloved commute to the office. Out of that irritation festered doubt that I will be able to make things work financially without having to rely on a punching a time clock. On my hour long ride I had only the radio and my thoughts.
A sign of our times, the radio squawked nothing but doom and gloom for the economy and preached over and over how we need to find a good job to ensure our future security.
This made me doubt my belief that finding a good job is exactly the opposite of what I should do.
As often happens, I entered my office with my mind completely preoccupied. My thoughts were swirling at lightning speed. I began to wonder how I became naïve enough to believe that I would ever be able to leave the confines of the traditional workplace. After all, this is what I was programmed to do. This is what I spent five years in college training for (yes, I said five. I switched majors in the middle!).
Throughout the day, I tried to focus on the things that I needed to get done, but (as usual) my heart just wasn’t in it. I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling of self-doubt.
When lunchtime rolled around, the office was a veritable ghost town. I normally spend my lunch hour catching up with co-workers. With no one to catch up with, I resorted to searching my office for something to read.
Earlier in the week I had brought a copy of Lisa Morosky’s “Real Answers to 50 Common Blogging Questions” to the office. As I turned over the report and saw the title, I knew instantly that this was one of those “moments”. This was my first indicator that I should not give up on my dreams just yet.
I headed off to the empty lunchroom to heat up my food and do a little reading. Of course, just as I got really enthralled with Lisa’s words of wisdom, the room began to fill up.
As is always the case in my office, most people cannot help but be nosey. I continued to read while one o f the owners of the company did a little reading over my shoulder. His reaction was as follows:
“Blogging? Are you gonna do that? What could YOU have to blog about?”
This reaction evoked a number of reactions within me. Of course, outwardly I just smiled and said “I’m just doing some light reading.”
My real reaction was, “What a rude ass”.
After the initial irritation that this ignorant statement stirred in me began to subside, I began to realize that he (along with the vast majority of people) had no idea that blogging can actually be a profession. His dismissive attitude was a clear indicator to me that he thought I was reading about something his 14 year old daughter would do to talk about her teachers and boys.
Although this irritated me, it also made me feel more confident about wanting to pursue blogging professionally. I want to take the path less traveled.
This exchange was also a reminder of the unprofessional nature of the “professionals” that I am supposed to be working my butt off for. This has been a huge source of anguish for me for years now.
How am I actually supposed to respect this person and earn money for him when he has no problem openly mocking something that I am clearly interested in?
I guess even rude, ignorant comments happen for a reason!!
~ Hope
“When the world says ‘give up’, hope whispers ‘try it one more time.” ~ Anonymous
If you’d like to read Lisa’s report that I reference above, check out her blog.
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