Hello my faithful and loyal readers!
I hope you are enjoying this cooler weather. October is here! God is dipping his paintbrush in his palette of paint to create some beautiful fall colors! Jesus is a master artist. Everything he creates is beautiful and with a purpose, including you!
When you know who you are, you stop wandering in the wilderness waiting for someone else to affirm who you are! For many of us, our jobs affirm who we are. We give our job 1000% because that's where we believe our value is determined. NOT so. Our worth was established when we were in our mother's womb. Psalm 139:13-16 ESV For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Thank you Lord for creating me to be fearfully and wonderfully made before I was born. Don't we serve a good God? Yes, we do.
I have always been one that measured my worth by how successful I performed my job. I have always strived to be that #1 employee. I remember my first job, which was at Church's Chicken, I was only 18 and was glad to be away from watching my Great Grandmother. I was her caretaker from 13 to 18. I missed out on so much of my childhood because I had to sit in the house and watch her 5 days a week. I couldn't have company or even go outside to play. So being able to get out of the house and be around people was a joy for me. There was this one girl, Susie that was the manager's pet. Her and the manager were so close. My manager, Virginia was all about working hard, no standing around and weakness was not acceptable. I admired Virginia and worked hard to be her #1 employee. That day finally came when Susie mouthed off at Virginia one day and got fired! We were all shocked! We knew that had to break Virginia's heart but Virginia was about doing the right thing. Finally, I was the #1 employee and from that day on, that's all I ever strived for on any of my jobs.
So let's go to 2021. So for the last 2 years, I became the #2 employee on purpose. My new manager demoted me for no reason other than she wanted to be the only one managing her department. So in my bitterness, I did something I had never done before, I became a "I don't care about this job" employee. I didn't know this decision would affect my mental health. I became depressed and my self-confidence was shaken to the core. I would be in virtual meetings crying because I felt so inadequate. I made up my mind, I would never do this to myself again. I had allowed another one of my colleagues to become the "Supergirl" of the department. No one mentioned me in meetings anymore, no phone calls and no one came to me for help, it was like I had been erased. The really bad part of this is, I trained her!! Supergirl finally got the promotion she had worked hard for and bam, I was back to being #1 employee. I felt my confidence coming back but yet, my heart is no longer in my work. Why? I have been waiting 20 years for my job to recognize my true value! That was not my job's responsibility, it was mine. I should have left for greener pastures years ago. Yes, I worked hard, watched people I trained get the promotions that I desired and still I kept waiting for them to "see" that I was capable. Are you waiting for your job to "see" your greatness? Girl, stop waiting on that job to affirm you, if they haven't seen it yet, they never will!!!!! God has already affirmed your worth and value!
I heard this lady tell a similar story about her job journey. She was living off the crumbs they threw her. The good reviews, the train the new person because you are so good, the occasional compromised promotion. A compromised promotion is, if you do the work first then we will pay your for what you have been doing. Then they never compensate you after you learned the extra work. Finally they laid this lady off, based upon a budget that SHE had created that eliminated positions! Her friend told her that she had been procrastinating all these years because she was waiting for her job to recognize her greatness when she already knew she was great! Just like me, this woman was trapped on a hamster's wheel, working hard but going nowhere. This liberated me ya'll. It renewed my energy and my determination! Now I am working hard and taking risks to become a full-time entrepreneur. When you own your own business, no one controls your destiny but you! I am free of the hamster's wheel! Praise God.
If you feel stuck or trapped at your job, start making a plan to get free. Sometimes your true success will not be found in the marketplace. Most companies don't create opportunities for long-term employees, they are about recruiting new talents. When you see you are no longer valued, don't die at your desk. Start creating a better life for yourself. I watched a colleague who was filled with bitterness about how they mistreated her at her job, allow it to ruin her life. She stopped hating the job and just hated herself. Don't' allow that to happen to you. You are never too old to escape the hamster's wheel!
Until next time,
Your favorite Ruby Girl!