My Entry into the Workforce

I remember the day that I got hired for the first day of my full-time job. It was a front desk student affairs position directing students to student services and admission processing. I started on a Tuesday, the day after Labor Day, in September of 2013. The reason I was in a rush to work was because I desperately wanted to get married and have a family. This was just how my nineteen-year-old mind worked at the time. A job or career was a necessity in order to have a family. The girl I loved during the latter years of my teenager years moved away. Apparently, she didn’t want me to follow her across the country to go to the same university as her, even though I was more than willing to do so. I thought it would have been so amazing to attend the same university. Supposedly, from the counsel of her parents, they didn’t think I was the right person for her to be with anyhow. Or, maybe she just used them as an excuse… whatever.

After crying profusely in front of my parents (I hardly ever cry in front of anyone), I was heartbroken but I figured out how to get over the heartbreak. I suppose the whole childhood sweetheart experience was too good to be true for me, despite how much my willpower tried to make it my reality.

Trying to make a wise financial decision, I settled by attending a local state college. In college, I met another young woman that I became interested in. We dated for a short period of time and then I proposed. We were engaged for about three months and then we got married. Three months into marriage we got pregnant but she miscarried. Then, six months later, we got pregnant again and this pregnancy didn’t end with a miscarriage. We had a beautiful baby girl!

Unfortunately, this marriage didn’t work out. Marriages are like chemistry experiments, some work out great and some blow up in the lab. Yeah, I never liked chemistry much anyhow…

I am thankful to be employed at the same college that I started at in 2013 and to live in America and to have a daughter who is ten now. I really do love being a dad. Parenting a kid who has an iPhone is scary, but I do the best I can with the time I have with her. Sometimes, life doesn’t turn out as you hoped for or planned for. I know life is very different than I ever originally anticipated. I am learning to find contentment, regardless of circumstances. Finding contentment, truly is key for helping ground yourself in life. There are so many things out of our control but our responses to what occurs is important. Resiliency is built in many ways. Resiliency occurs when we strive to build families, our work experiences, and all the other curveballs that life throws at us.

On a scale of one to ten, how resilient do you think you are?

What specific events in your life aided in developing your resilience?

What do you remember about your first day working at your full time job?

How different did your life turn out than you expected it would?

Have you found some level of contentment with your life and current circumstances?

I ask these questions either rhetorically or if you would like to answer them in the comments below, then you’re most welcome to do so. At the end of the day, we are all here to learn from one another, right?

Cheers - to keeping it positive! 🥂