Smack! Full face forward...

First of all, I'd like to thank you for joining me here, it's been a while. I expect you'll be seeing more posts here, now that I have a lot of free time the next little while.

I have news. As of Monday, I, after 9 years with the same company, am unemployed. I have joined the masses it seems in this struggling economy we find ourselves in.

I thought I was immune. I thought it was impossible that I, as talented as I am, could fail. Well, here's my wake up call. I did. And I am happier for it! Failing isn't what it is cracked up to be. It's quite liberating really. Now as an aside, it wasn't a total failure really, not all aspects were a waste of time but I wasn't fulfilled. My passion was stifled, my direction, spinning downward. I could think of a number of visuals that would describe it better but I won't bore you with the cliches. I just know that trudging along isn't what I had hoped for myself on this earth.

Imminent failure is a place I have been before. Funny that, as terrible as it seemed at the time, it was a move that I couldn't look back on. Grieve yes, sulk over, hell no. Don't we learn the most from the those times in our lives when we think it couldn't get any worse? It helps to keep things in perspective then. It can always be worse.

As I write this, I feel invigorated with the desire to rediscover the passion I felt was missing. For one, we are blessed with a beautiful part of the world to live in. There are millions of people on this earth who face enormous hardships, many of them right next door. Enough said. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to make a change to better my life and my health. As I write this, I am reminded that opportunities will always present themselves if we are willing to accept the possibility. I am on this earth to make a difference, but first I must make a difference in my own life.

Mark Friday, January 29th 2010 on your calenders people, for this is the first day of the rest of our lives. We just need to pay attention...full face forward.