Day 29: Choosing a Month of being Grateful

This morning marked 4 weeks from being laid off.

It feels like the time has gone by so quickly and yet so slowly.

I am so appreciative of the time I have had over the past couple of weeks, so I'm choosing to look at why I am grateful for this time.

I am grateful for getting to spend quality time with my family without feeling split. Last week, I prepared all of Passover. The cooking process for this endeavor took two full, exhausting, but delicious days to mix up. I could spend my time shopping, chopping, mixing, and preparing with minimal interruption. I've had a kiddo with an on again off again stomach bug that I haven't had to try to juggle too many meetings like I would have because he's had to stay home.

I am grateful for the time for uninterrupted travel. Since being laid off, I have traveled to New Orleans for a family trip. My mom is about to put my childhood home up on the market in the next month, so I've had the chance to come home one of the last times, decide on what to keep and what to get rid of, and visit places with Joshua. I have had very few meetings to attend to and nothing on my phone is so important and immediate to need attention.

I am grateful for time to reflect. Having the time to sit still for a moment and reflect has been so restorative in some ways. Being able to really focus on what matters, make plans which are not career driven, enjoy slience. Things I did not allow myself the space for often enough.

I am grateful for my health. In my last role, I fully did not take care of my health. I put it on the back-burner for work and activities I deemed more important. And my physical and mental health suffered as a result. I've been able to take care of both a bit more and craft plans and some small actions to make moves for me.

I am grateful for my coach. I was offered a coach a few months ago by my former boss and turned it down at that time - I didn't know what to focus on or how to move forward. It was also awkward for me because I worked at the company the coaches worked for and many of my needed coaching conversations at the time would be about the leadership and direction of the organization - something I did not feel comfortable sharing with another individual in the organization at the time. But having a coach now has been a great push. She has slowed me down from being too harried, increased my intentionally, and forced me own the hard work needed for my next step ahead.

I am grateful for community. I am so thankful for my ever growing community. The connections I have been making, the reconnections as well, I am certain will have an impact on whatever comes next.

While I could continue to view my layoff as a necessary but hurtful and painful experience, instead, I choose to look at how much I have gained and stand to gain in the near future.