It’s the first week of my new life released from the everyday demands of a full-time job. I’m at home on a day that’s not a vacation or sick day, but a regular part of my schedule now. I vascillate between thinking that I should be doing something, at the very least putting a plan in place for my new normal, and that I should just be enjoying this first day of the freedom to do absolutely nothing!
It’s funny how our identities become wrapped up in what we do. Over the last ten years I was part of creating from nothing a role that was significant and meaningful in an important profession. Stepping into jobs that didn't exist before has been a recurring part of my professional career path, and now I'm doing it for perhaps the last time as I start from scratch in another such position. I have already handed off all of my previous responsibilities to someone that I didn’t know, and that was harder than I thought it would be - kind of like giving your children to a stranger! I found myself being perhaps a bit too watchful and unable at first to completely let go, feeling like I had to make sure those babies would be alright! Of course, I know they are in capable hands and will be.
Although I feel liberated from the sometimes crushing demands of extremely long days, now there is a new kind of pressure. I have to carve out a new identity, forge a new path and demonstrate new value. This is a suck-in-your breath, what-have-I-done kind of moment! Clearly, those are the kinds of moments that I thrive in, because this is not the first, but the fifth time over the course of my professional career that I have stepped into inaugural positions. And at least a couple of those times, they were the result of my own proposals!
So here is my Note To Self for today: This transition is part of a greater plan for your life, and for the gifts, talents and callings that your music and workshops embody. You’ve got this, but more importantly, you know who’s got you! Take some time today to just relax...you’ve earned it.
Today’s Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.
It’s funny how our identities become wrapped up in what we do. Over the last ten years I was part of creating from nothing a role that was significant and meaningful in an important profession. Stepping into jobs that didn't exist before has been a recurring part of my professional career path, and now I'm doing it for perhaps the last time as I start from scratch in another such position. I have already handed off all of my previous responsibilities to someone that I didn’t know, and that was harder than I thought it would be - kind of like giving your children to a stranger! I found myself being perhaps a bit too watchful and unable at first to completely let go, feeling like I had to make sure those babies would be alright! Of course, I know they are in capable hands and will be.
Although I feel liberated from the sometimes crushing demands of extremely long days, now there is a new kind of pressure. I have to carve out a new identity, forge a new path and demonstrate new value. This is a suck-in-your breath, what-have-I-done kind of moment! Clearly, those are the kinds of moments that I thrive in, because this is not the first, but the fifth time over the course of my professional career that I have stepped into inaugural positions. And at least a couple of those times, they were the result of my own proposals!
So here is my Note To Self for today: This transition is part of a greater plan for your life, and for the gifts, talents and callings that your music and workshops embody. You’ve got this, but more importantly, you know who’s got you! Take some time today to just relax...you’ve earned it.
Today’s Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.
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