Journal Day w/Sometimes Sweet #1

 Danielle over on Sometimes Sweet is an avid writer.  And very talented at that!  She recently restarted Journal Day to encourage a very simple thing:  to write more.  I know I sometimes get into a bit of a writing funk where you just don't know what to write about.  Most topics seem over done or silly or just plan pointless.  So I'm super pumped to actually have her provide the topic.  Every week she will post it on her blog and followers are encouraged to write then comment with either a few lines from their writing or a link to their post.   I am going to attempt to compete this every week in hopes of actually getting back to just simply writing.


This week's topic is...

"Everyone has a time in their life they view as a crossroad. Sometimes you can see it as it's happening, and you're able to choose one way or another. Other times you may not realize you're there until you look back, and see what a turning point it really was. This week, write about a time you view as a marker in your life; a distinct place where things changed, for better or worse. " via-Sometimes Sweet

I was at a job that I loved for quite while.  Well it was 5 years but I suppose that is a long time when you're on your early 20s.  This job was everything to me.  I had met my best friends there.  It helped me gain confidence and be alright with who I was.  It taught me that being different is okay and should be expressed and celebrated.  I had plans to move up in the company and was taking the steps to make this happen.  Then it all fell apart.  The position I was moving towards no longer existed and I was being relocated.  The location I was going to already had someone of my position (lets call her Jennifer) who apparently thought we now had to fight to keep our job.  To the best of my knowledge this was not the case.  I was just there temporarily until a permanent spot somewhere else opened up.  Jennifer proceeded to make work very difficult and work soon became a place I hated going to.  She had made the place I loved most the place I wanted least to be.  

Everything came crashing down on me one Sunday morning.  She started a fight with me.  Not an actual "fists-flying-hair-pulling-arm-scratching" fight (do women even fight like that?) but it might as well have been.  It ended with us yelling at each other, me slamming a door and not speaking to her for the rest of the day.  It also led to a meeting a few days later with our District Manager about my behavior while not a word was said about hers.  I was fuming.  I know that I had a part in our argument but (I know this sounds really immature) she started it.  She started everything.  And after weeks of side mouthed comments, I had finally had enough and couldn't hold my tongue any longer.  After that I had a decision to make.  Do I stick it out and rely on my morals to get me through?  Or do I just throw in the towel? 

I would like to say I had the guts to stay and put up with everything she could dish out.  But instead I searched endlessly for another job.  I eventually took a lower paying job at another company just to be able to rid myself of her.  The excitement and relief I felt when I turned in my notice was something I had never expected to feel about leaving that job.  I always thought they would have to drag me out kicking and screaming, not running away jumping for joy.  I learned later that everything she did was intentional to get me to quit.  It warmed my heart just a little that she felt she had to use grade school tactics instead of relying on her ability to do the job.  On the other hand, it still irks me a little because it worked.

My new job turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  Sure, I was being paid less but my schedule was more cemented which allowed me to make plans easier as well as give me the ability to go back to school.  I was also pretty much my own boss, which I loved since I thrive when working independently.  And best of all, it led me to my husband.  So many of the amazing things that happened in the last few years had been because of or with him.  And I honestly do not think I would have even met him if I had stayed at my previous job. 

For a really long time I hated Jennifer, resented her for taking something dear to me and covering it in mud.  But I think she really just showed me that I had slowly outgrown that place and gave me the huge kick in the pants I needed to move on.  Looking back, I almost think I should thank her for making me quit.  She unknowingly forced me down the road I was supposed to be on.  Even if it took me years to realize it.  

-Marsha