I love fortune cookies. Not for the cookie itself, I could do without the extra calories (as compared to the thousand I'll intake during a single Chinese meal!!) Nope. I love the cookies for the fortune. What will it say? What will guide me this week? What secret code is going to be in there just waiting for me to crack?
Well over my 2 years at Citi I've had my share of Chinese food (and probably yours too!) But one thing I did keep in addition to the extra pounds I added, was the fortunes that I thought had some meaning.
Now let me add a little twist to this. The fortunes below...I received AFTER I became a Mary Kay consultant. A decision I made to help bring me home with my girls.
*There are plenty of promises and hope floating around you.
*Don't put off till tomorrow what can be enjoyed today.
*Your hard is about to pay off.
*Listen these next few days to your friends to get answers you seek.
And my favorite
*Your fondest dream will come true within this year.
(I got this one right after I returned from maternity leave and made a strong decision to be home by Nov in time for Abby's first birthday!!)
This one isn't a fortune cookie, but I've had it on my desk below my keyboard for about a year and half now.
"It's never to late to be what you wanted to be." George Eliot (It serves as a daily reminder of what I can still have and be.)
So be careful what you pray/wish for! You might not always like the answer you receive or how you receive it.
It's no secret that I've longed to be a stay at home mom since I first found out I was pregnant with Anna. All I've wanted was to be home with my girls. As much as I love our Nina (our daycare provider), I wanted to be the one they were with all day. I hated taking them to daycare each day so someone else could tell me "she spoke today" or "she took a step today".
Last week I got news that CitiFinancial was closing a bunch of branches and laying off employees. Basically the company is dividing in two and my position is no longer needed. My job will end on June 30 at which time I will be what the company calls a "non-working, active employee". I'm on the payroll for 60 days, but I don't actually work. After that I will receive a severance.
So am I taking this as a sign? YOU BETCHA! Am I taking this as an answer to a prayer? YES! Am I happy it came about this way? Not really. But knowing that I have 3 months of pay coming at me, 3 months to bust my butt and really build my Mary Kay business, 3 months to spend at home with my girls...is a complete blessing.
Luckily for me, I already had a plan in place to get out of corporate America. I wasn't too shocked that this all came about with my job. I had a "gut" feeling (another sign??) I am blessed that I have such an amazing husband who tells me everyday that I can do it. Chris has believed in me since day 1. In fact he was the one who actually encouraged me to sign up to do Mary Kay. He's my biggest cheerleader.
So a shout out to my directors Debi and Erica for never giving up on me. For encouraging me, supporting me and putting up with me! I'm trading my hiking boots (more like casual black shoes!!) for running shoes girls!
So when life gives you lemons...go out and make some awesome lemonade!
