Sometimes It Just Takes Time
One of the negatives of living in a fast paced society is that we become increasingly impatient and despondent when things don’t happen in our life as quickly as we hope they will. We find ourselves out of a job, and within a couple of weeks or a month, we begin to panic when our telephone calls or the applications we send in online return no response. Our great idea which requires the involvement and input of others goes into a holding pattern because we just can’t get a decision from another party. Even our own thoughts and ideas for the things we want to accomplish that don’t require anyone taking action but ourselves start to seem to slip away because other priorities emerge that require our more immediate attention. The reality is that life does not always go according to our plan and schedule, but to its own. Sometimes it just takes time for things to work out the way we want.
A close relative of mine recently accepted a full time job position with a new employer. All of us in the family were extremely happy for him. When recounting the point of time from his last full time position to this new one, it surprised many of us that it was three full years between full time job positions. However, along the way all of us in the family learned some very valuable lessons. First off, job search campaigns were not conducted anything like they were when this happened to my relative in the past fifteen years prior. After first battling advice and trends that told him that the ways he knew from the past in conducting a job search did not work as well anymore, he became more flexible in his approach. He began realizing the value of social networking sites, particularly those focused toward those looking to make career connections. There was more openness toward working in a consulting arrangement with employers than as a full-time employee of a company. Ultimately there was an acceptance on behalf of my relative and all who were rooting for him to land a full-time position to support himself and his family would happen when it was meant to happen. Sixteen months went by with no employment at all. Twenty months more transpired where an excellent consulting arrangement came into his life which allowed him to have some employee benefits, and a commute five minutes from his house to the his place of work. After doing several assignments for that company under the consulting arrangement, he was hired full-time by that client. It was not the course he expected when first out of a job. But, again, the result he was seeking was meant to happen in its own time.
I myself am exploring several opportunities currently. One is working with a complimentary client base that aligns well to both the coaching services I offer and the schedule and lifestyle that I lead. Another opportunity involves working with educational institutions to make them aware of some of the benefits available to them from the career coaching company from which I received my certification. I provide my time to two different support groups for those in job search. At times, they’re well attended, and other times they are not. Making those in need of those services aware of their existence pulls at my time. When these and other activities in my life don’t seem to happen as quickly as I would expect when I initially proposed pursuing them, I can get down over that fact. However, it often takes just one person being helped, one person thanking me for devoting my time to a cause, one person who shares my enthusiasm for a venture, to help me bounce back. If what you are focusing your efforts demonstrates true value to you, and you can also see value to it helping others, it is worth the commitment. Admittedly patience for the time things take is not always there in abundance.
What things have you frustrated in your life? How important to you is it that they happen? What efforts have you put to them to date? Would additional effort help you get them accomplished quicker? Or would a change in strategy help? Or is the answer in the fact that you are taking the right steps, you are trying appropriate strategies, have the full commitment toward them, but that certain things that need to happen are not fully in your control. When has something like that happened in your life before? When the result you were seeking actually occurred, was it worth it to you? If you have examples like that, don’t hesitate to fall back upon them. Because, as much as we try, we don’t always have the say as to when what we want actually comes into our life. It often comes when fate and circumstances decide it is the right time.
