Resilience

re·sil·ience

*  [ri-zil-yuhns, -zil-ee-uhns] 

noun

1.

the power or ability to return to the original form, position,etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity.

2.

ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity,or the like; buoyancy.

My last post came at a time when my professional life had been turned on his head.  It's nearly a month later, and although things are still unsteady, I've found how strong and capable my coworkers and I are.  For the last 4 weeks, our feet haven't touched the ground we've been moving so quickly.  We've all bound together, taken on roles we didn't think we'd have to, worked long hours, and changed things around.

Next week we're at a tradeshow.  It's Thursday afternoon and we're nowhere near being ready.  A month ago this would have panicked me, but now I have no doubt that we'll have everything pulled together in time. 

I chose the word "resilience" because that's what my coworkers and I shown in the last month.  It's surprising what you can do and overcome when pressed.  My tasks at work have quadrupled, I've been stretched to what I thought were my limits, and yet I've just pushed right through them.  I can see that I'll still be tested over the next couple of months, but I know that everything will eventually return to normal.

*source: dictionary.reference.com

A Trying Time

The last couple of weeks haven't exactly been easy.  To say things were "shaken up" would be an understatement.

Last Monday, my boss resigned without any warning to anyone in the company.  I work for a small company, with only 6 people in the U.S. office (well, 5 now).  When a director leaves in a major company, I'm sure there's a slight tremor, but the floor isn't cracking beneath you and buildings aren't rocking back and forth.  For a small company like ours, this is 7.3 on the richter scale. 

A week and a half on and we're still in the "search and rescue" phase, and we're finding things are a lot more fragile than we initially thought. 

For now we're having to stick together and all do jobs we weren't meant to do.  Hopefully this transition won't have too many growing pains. 

The next month or so should be interesting.

Time flies!

It seems every year, every month, people are commenting on how quickly time is passing.  "This year's really flying by," or "I can't believe it's already May - wasn't it just Christmas?", are phrases that never seem to be far away.

Well not to sound cliche, but this year really IS flying by.  The last couple of weeks have been busy both at work and at home.  I knew I was in for a busy week at work when on Monday of last week I didn't get home until 11.45 pm, which is much later than the standard 5.00 or 5.30.  I knew I was in for a busy week at home when I looked at my calendar yesterday morning and saw that Zak and I have something planned every day for the next 7 days.  And it looks as if things aren't really going to slow down from here.

Only just now am I about to enter the busiest part of the year so far.  With work, next month is the last month of Q1 and I have quotas to meet.  After that it's trade show season so I'll be travelling quite a bit with that.  At home it's Zak's birthday coming up and then my sister's wedding in the first week of May.  This means that between now and then not only will there be bridal showers and hen nights to attend, but as maid of honour (or I guess matron of honour, seeing as I'm married) much time will be spent planning those things.  Factor into that all of life's daily routines and surprises, and I'm in for a busy few months. 

Luckily, I like being busy.  I'd rather have too much to do than too little.  And I like the responsibilities I have both at home and at work.  However, for all my excellent skills as a multi-tasker, this will be a bit challenging for me.  At least there will be plenty of photo opportunities to play with the new camera, right?

I've set my light at the end of the tunnel (the calm after the storm) to be Memorial Day weekend, the last weekend in May.  This should be interesting.

Like A Kid Who Snorted A Pixie Stick

Hurrah!  BIG day!  BIG news!  I've done it!  I've closed my first sale!  I started my job 7 months ago and have been training up to this moment, learning about the industry I'm in, gaining technical knowledge, creating presentations, and now the title on my business card actually means something.

The sale was closed within my first ten minutes in the office today and as a result, the rest of the day's been a whirlwind.  This isn't just my first sale in my current position, this is my first sale ever (apart from 2 years working in retail while in college).  It's shown me that I am capable and professional, and I feel genuinely appreciated by my colleagues.  My boss (semi-jokingly) dubbed me "star of the day" and (seriously) told that I handled the client and sale very well, and I even got a congratulatory email from the CEO in Oslo.  I know I work for a small company so there aren't as many steps between me and the CEO, but I'm going to let myself feel proud of that email.

It's amazing what one achievement will do for your confidence.  I've had to stop myself from practically skipping on my way to the water cooler or colleagues offices.  Zak asked me how I felt after I told him and I blurted out "like a kid who's snorted a pixie stick!"  It was the only thing that came to mind that described how excited and buzzed I felt.  Suddenly I feel like I can achieve anything.  My mind is running a mile a minute of all the things I've been wanting to learn or get back into but haven't allowed myself the confidence to actually do it.  But now I don't feel that there's anything to hold me back.  So watch this space, big things are coming....