When Good Things Happen

Life is so full of crazy that sometimes it's easy to keep an eye out for the next catastrophe, large or small, lurking around the corner.  Having survived cancer, divorce, and unemployment, I don't have to think too long and hard about what such a scare might look like.

But right now, I'm envisioning something quite the opposite of all of that.  I'm allowing myself to really envision the good things happening, the life that may be mine to make.

Yesterday's interview was nothing short of spectacular.

The V.P., on the telephone many states away, clearly loved me.  She spent a little while asking me tough questions, and she clearly loved my answers.  She then spent the rest of the interview letting me ask questions, and giving me a pretty fantastic sales pitch about the organization in return.  She asked me questions about start dates, and salary, and she said things like, "I think you have just the skills we've been looking for" and "I would be there to support you, and I'd fly out to introduce you to my connections" and other incredibly positive things.  She told me that those I'd interviewed with previously loved me, and had really great things to say about me.  She said that the man who would be my boss (who reports to her) was an incredibly smart, down to earth person and one of her favorites; she told me how much I would like him.

Up until now, I have really felt like I was the long shot candidate, and that a million different problems could get in the way of me getting this job.  I knew that I could do it, but I also knew that it might not happen.

Well, there still isn't an offer on the table, but I'm thinking that it could happen.  That it is LIKELY to happen.  That they are chasing me just as much as I am chasing them.

That in six weeks, my life might undergo another huge change, this one all for the best.

***

The biggest change that I'm undergoing is believing that not only will I survive, and find something that works, but that the scramble to stay afloat has ended, and that amazing things lie ahead.  That my surprises are the good kind, and not the scary kind.

This job would come with a 50% raise.  The funny thing about that number is that the money isn't what draws me to the job, it's just a lovely side effect.  I'm drawn to the job because it's my passion, and because I believe that it would take my talents and put them in position to make a real difference with my life.  I'm drawn to the job because I'd be fighting cancer professionally, and because that fight might one day save my own life, or my daughter's.  I'm drawn to the job because I'd be working with people at the tops of their fields, smart people that I'd like to be friends with; passionate people.  I'm drawn to the job because they've got a great infrastructure that would allow me to focus on the things that matter to me, rather than the running around in circles that I often do in my current job (don't even ask me about battles with my printer last week - the amount of effort I spent making things print properly and in bulk was atrocious!).

I want this job because I'm passionate about the work, and because I want to work with other people who are as passionate as I am, in a great work environment.  I want to show up to the office every day excited about what I do, and who I do it with.

But I also want the money.

I want to save for retirement and college.  I want to go on little vacations involving airplanes.  (Oh, how I long for travel, near and far!)  I want to know that when something goes wrong with the house - the furnace, the roof, plumbing, whatever - that I can fix it.  I want to replace my tires when they need replacing.  I want Katherine to get the next phase of orthodontia.  And sure, I'd love some great new shoes and pencil skirts - why not?!

I don't need to roll in money; I don't plan on buying myself jewelry, or fancy cars.  (My current car is uber fancy to me.  Did I mention that it's a Subaru Forester?  I don't want a Rolls Royce, or even a Lexus.  I want a car that's safe and comfortable, and takes me skiing, or hiking, or camping, and I've got that.)  I don't need to buy a bigger house, and I don't need to upgrade all of my furniture.  But when I go to the art walk, I'd like to buy some fun art for my walls; I'd like to go grocery shopping without wincing at the total bill.

I think that the odds of this job happening, opening all of these doors for me, are good.  Great, even.  Every single interview (three informal, three formal) has gone exceedingly well, beyond my expectations, and I've got all of these people pushing to hire me, saying that I've got what it takes.  Who am I not to believe them?  I choose to believe them.

Maybe I'm just as good as they say I am.  Maybe it's time I started living up to my potential.

I'm ready for this.  I'm ready to join a bigger part of the world.  I'm ready to have a chain of good things happen.  I'm ready for the next phase of my life.  I can't wait!