I could relate to every word in this song, The Climb sung by Miley Cyrus.
For 6 months since my career break, I have been contemplating. Am I ever gonna be back to my professional career? Or will I take another path? Another mountain?
I have been busy doing on-line jobs which I find really amusing. I was doing creative writing most of the time. I felt so proud when an Australian client hired me to write creative sentences for him. He gave me a test and this is what he said:
After the project, I was glad that he rated my performance very well. After this stint, I tried doing text messaging services for a company that answers all questions you can ever think of through mobile messaging services or texting. It was a company that render this kind of service to US, Canada and UK. I had poured out all the creativity in me just to provide smart and informative replies to questions in just 112 characters. Unfortunately, I did not get certified to continue with the project but it was a swell time learning about US and UK geography and culture as part of the orientation. ( For my 38 years in existence I have never known that the UK is composed of 4 countries and England alone is not UK at all. If you ever put it that way, it would be an insult to any Englishman. )
And so I thought writing was the mountain for me to climb. It is really my passion. I got creative, inspired and somehow moved my readers with my words. It was good but the revenue I got from writing is just a quarter lower compared to my salaried professional post before. It was really great working from the very confines of my own home; without the hassles and bustles of traffic and office environment. It was like living the good life until I noticed my personal accounts. My usual expenses were exceeding my revenue. So I took measures to cut off our expenses although I still have enough of my "emergency fund" to support the whole career break of 6 to 7 months. ( As promised, I will discuss more about how to build your own personal funds in the next blog posts. I won't forget that! ) However, if I would continue with this stream of revenue, my other funds would be used and I would be in trouble.
So when my doctor gave me the "green light" to work again, I started sending my applications to companies which I knew would fit my objective: near my home, manufacturing industry, job and culture fitness. I had no luck for several months but my faith didn't wavered. Waiting on God's time is never a wasted time. It was a declaration of my faith ever since.
And so, I saw the peak of my mountain. An opportunity. Exactly as what I needed. Fitted the job objectives I have mentioned above like a glove. So I will start working as a professional accountant again in a potential "dream" company by next week.
New staff, new colleagues, new bosses, new environment but definitely familiar since I have been in the manufacturing industry for most of my career life. Definitely another peak to climb.
However, the journey I took during my career break was definitely worth the climb.